Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant spoke overnight Saturday with his American counterpart Lloyd Austin to brief him on the Iranian aerial attack.
Gallant told the American leader about “Israel’s defensive operations in the face of Iran’s attack and emphasized that the defense establishment is prepared for any further attempts to attack the State of Israel,” according to an Israeli readout of the call.
He also “expressed his appreciation to Secretary [of Defense] Austin for his leadership and for standing with Israel.”
On Thursday, Austin reiterated Washington’s commitment to upholding Israel’s security, as the Israel Defense Forces prepared for Iran’s attack on the home front.
Austin spoke with Gallant “to reiterate ironclad U.S. support for Israel’s defense in the face of growing threats from Iran and its regional proxies,” according to a Pentagon readout of their call.
Iran fired more than 200 missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles from its territory towards Israel on Saturday night, in a major response to the April 1 killing of several IRGC officers in Syria.
Rocket warning sirens blared across northern and southern Israel, as well as in Jerusalem and towns in Samaria.
A 10-year-old Bedouin girl was seriously wounded, apparently by an Iranian rocket, in the southern city of Arad.
