Israel-Gaza updates: 22, including 18 children, reported dead in Rafah strikes

The IDF says it struck military targets of terrorist organizations in Gaza.

Israel launched a retaliatory strike against Iran early Friday morning local time, a senior U.S. official told ABC News.

The strike followed Iran's attack on Saturday, when Tehran sent a volley of more than 300 drones and missiles toward targets in Israel, according to Israeli military officials. All but a few were intercepted by Israel and its allies, including the United States, officials said.

Iran's weekend attack came more than six months after Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on Oct. 7, after which the Israeli military began its bombardment of Gaza.


What to know about Iran's attack on Israel

Israeli officials said the country's Iron Dome defense system endured a big test from Iran's attack on Saturday, intercepting 99% of the 300 "threats of various types" thrown at it.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari, launched 170 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), more than 120 ballistic missiles and more than 30 cruise missiles in the attack.

Hagari said "99% of the threats launched towards Israeli territory were intercepted -- a very significant strategic achievement."

Hagari said the attack resulted in only one known Israeli casualty, a 7-year-old girl who was severely injured when she was struck by shrapnel apparently from an intercepted missile.


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Israel focused too intensely on Iran's nuclear threat at expense of ballistic threat: IDF

Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Israel focused too intensely on the Iranian nuclear threat at the expense of its ballistic threat.

A senior U.S. official told ABC News the U.S. also relied too heavily on the misguided conception that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was cautious and would never order a direct attack on Israel, and that this weekend’s attack and the general U.S. assessment of Iran now requires study and reassessment.

Sima Shine, a former head of the Iran desk at Israeli espionage agency Mossad, also said Israel’s assessment was wrong, and said "the rules of the game" have changed. A huge barrage of missiles was considered possible, but highly unlikely, Shine said.

Shine said any Israeli response under the new conception requires the assumption that Iran will follow up with its threat of another salvo of missiles. That said, Shine believes that Iran and the supreme leader do not want a full-scale war because it would be unpopular in Iran and the U.S. could get involved.

-ABC News’ Matt Gutman


Yellen to Iran: US 'will not hesitate' to issue new sanctions

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is warning Iran that the U.S. "will not hesitate" to impose new sanctions in response to Iran's "unprecedented attack" on Israel.

"Treasury will not hesitate to work with our allies to use our sanctions authority to continue disrupting the Iranian regime’s malign and destabilizing activity," Yellen is expected to say at a Tuesday press conference. "The attack by Iran and its proxies underscores the importance of Treasury's work to use our economic tools to counter Iran's malign activity."

Yellen's message follows President Joe Biden's Sunday meeting with the G7 nations, during which the leaders discussed a coordinated effort on sanction measures.

-ABC News’ Justin Ryan Gomez


Israeli war cabinet to consider response again Tuesday

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war cabinet is expected to meet again on Tuesday to consider an Israeli response to Iran's weekend attack.

"We are closely assessing the situation. We remain at our highest level of readiness," Herzi Halevi, chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, said on Monday. "Iran will face the consequences for its actions."

Halevi added Israel would "choose our response accordingly."

-ABC News' Morgan Winsor and Somayeh Malekian


UN watchdog calls for de-escalation in Israel-Iran conflict

United Nations officials called on Tuesday for Israel and Iran to de-escalate their conflict, saying the retaliatory military attacks “violate the right to life and must cease immediately.”

“All countries are prohibited from arbitrarily depriving individuals of their right to life in military operations abroad, including when countering terrorism,” the U.N.’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a press release, quoting U.N. officials described as "experts."

The retaliatory strikes by both countries may constitute the “international crime of aggression by civilian and military leaders responsible,” those officials said, according to the statement.

-ABC News' Kevin Shalvey


Blinken says US 'not involved' in Israel's strike on Iran

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has denied any U.S. involvement in Israel's retaliatory strike on Iran.

Blinken was asked at a press conference early Friday morning if Israel told the United States in advance of the strikes in Iran.

"I’m not going to respond," Blinken said. He went on to say that "the U.S. was not involved in any Israel offensive.”