Here's how Israel and its allies countered 300 Iranian drones and missiles

Iran late April 14 had launched 300 drones and ballistic missiles at Israel in unprecedented retaliatory attacks. But Israel's military on April 15 said that 99% of projectiles fired by Iran were intercepted by Israel and its partners, with only a small number of ballistic missiles reaching Israel.

According to CNN, most of the Iranian munitions were launched from inside of Iran’s territory during a five-hour attack and were intercepted before they got to Israel, more than 1,770 kilometers from their launch points.

"Together we thwarted Iran's attack... This was the first time that such a coalition worked together against the threat of Iran and its proxies in the Middle East," said military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari in a televised statement.

"Iran launched over 350 threats, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, rockets and suicide drones towards Israel and also other countries in the region could have got that threat on the way."

In total, around 170 drones, more than 30 cruise missiles, and more than 120 ballistic missiles were launched at Israel by Iran overnight Saturday, the military said.

US officials said more than 70 drones and three ballistic missiles were intercepted by US Navy ships and military aircraft.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also confirmed that the UK’s Royal Air Force participated in taking down drones.

An Israeli military spokesperson also said France was involved in blocking the Iranian attacks.

At one point, at least 100 ballistic missiles from Iran were in the air simultaneously with just minutes of flight time to Israel, the officials said, according to PTI news agency.

Biden and senior official monitored the firings and interception attempts in real time in the White House Situation Room. The officials said there was “relief” in the room once they saw that the missile defence efforts had succeeded.

A senior US military official said American aircraft shot down more than 70 drones and cruise missiles, while US destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean Sea downed between four and six ballistic missiles, and an American Patriot missile battery in Iraq shot down one more.

“At my direction, to support the defence of Israel, the US military moved aircraft and ballistic missile defense destroyers to the region over the course of the past week,” Biden said in a statement late Saturday.

“Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary skill of our servicemembers, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles.”

Biden, in a Saturday evening call with Netanyahu, urged that Israel claim victory for its defence prowess as the president aimed to persuade America's closest Middle East ally not to undertake a larger retaliatory strike against Iran, the officials said.

“I told him that Israel demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks — sending a clear message to its foes that they cannot effectively threaten the security of Israel,” Biden said in his statement after the call.

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