Live footage and video clips shared on social media appear to show Israel’s air defense system intercepting incoming drones launched in an attack by Iran on Saturday.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed to Newsweek on Saturday that Iran launched unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from within its territory toward the country.
IDF said the country’s air-defense system, which includes the Iron Dome missile defense, is prepared for the drone attacks, which Iranian officials said were launched in response to an Israeli strike that killed two Iranian generals earlier this month.
CNN aired live footage from Jerusalem, which appeared to show the Middle Eastern nation’s air defense system intercepting Iran’s drones. During parts of the nearly two-minute clip shared on X, formerly Twitter, explosions and bright flashes can be seen in the sky above the Israeli city as sirens blare.
“We are continuing to see multiple intercepts in the skies above me coming from multiple different directions. It’s hard to tell what is an incoming missile and what is an intercept,” CNN’s international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson reported live Saturday night.
Robertson said that he witnessed 20 to 30 possible intercepts.
“I’m hearing multiple, multiple detonations, again of what sound like interceptions,” he said. “I am not hearing the sound of impacts.”
Social media user Acyn posted a clip of CNN’s footage on X and wrote: “These are live pictures. It’s unclear exactly what we’re looking at, but you can see those streaks in the sky.”
Newsweek reached out via email on Saturday evening to representatives for Tehran for comment.
Newsweek could not independently verify the accuracy of the videos. IDF would not confirm at the time of publication if it had intercepted any drones or what their intended targets were. While over 100 drones had been launched, IDF told Newsweek that Israel’s air defenses were ready for the attack.
“The IDF is on high alert and is constantly monitoring the operational situation,” the Israeli military told Newsweek in a statement on Saturday. “The IDF Aerial Defense Array is on high alert, along with IAF fighter jets and Israeli Navy vessels that are on a defense mission in Israeli airspace. The IDF is monitoring all targets. We ask the public to adhere to and follow the instructions of the Home Front Command and the official IDF announcements regarding the matter.”
Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu/Getty
After threatening retaliation, Iran’s drone attacks against Israel on Saturday come in the wake of an Israeli strike that killed two Iranian generals and five other officers earlier this month in Syria.
Tension between Israel and Iran has been mounting since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war when the Palestinian militant group launched a surprise attack killing 1,200 people in Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel subsequently launched an operation to target Hamas in Gaza, killing over 30,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials.
U.S. and Israeli officials have both accused Iran of providing not only political, but also material backing to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as well as other militias abroad such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Yemen’s Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthi movement, and an array of forces in Iraq and Syria.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.