Iran Launches Attack on Israel, U.S. Downs Drones

Iran launched a drone swarm toward Israel on Saturday night into Sunday morning local time, following through on its threats of retaliation against the Jewish state after several top Iranian commanders were killed in a suspected Israeli strike in Syria earlier this month.

The United States has acted to defend Israel from the onslaught, which marks the first direct attack on Israel by Iran; until now, Iran has relied on proxies such as Hamas and Hezbollah. American forces have intercepted and shot down several drones before they reached Israeli airspace, the Associated Press reports, though no number has been confirmed.