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.
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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.
Highest number of aid trucks enter Gaza since start of war
A total of 419 humanitarian aid trucks entered Gaza on Monday, marking the highest number of aid trucks to enter Gaza in one day since the start of the war, according to Israeli aid agency COGAT.
This beats the record that was set one day earlier, when 322 trucks entered Gaza.
Netanyahu says Israel has set a date to enter Rafah
Israel has set a date for its forces to enter Rafah in southern Gaza, though the date has not been announced, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a brief video message in Hebrew on Monday.
"Today I received a detailed report on the [negotiation] talks in Cairo," Netanyahu said. "We are working all the time to achieve our goals, primarily the release of all our hostages and achieving a complete victory over Hamas."
"This victory requires entry into Rafah and the elimination of the terrorist battalions there," he continued. "It will happen -- there is a date."
The U.S. has not been briefed on the date Israel will invade Rafah, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
-ABC News' Will Gretsky
White House still reviewing IDF report on WCK strike, Kirby says
The White House is still reviewing the Israel Defense Force’s investigation of the Israeli strike that killed seven World Central Kitchen workers in Gaza, according to White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.
Officials are "still working our way through it," Kirby told reporters Monday. He didn’t provide any update on when that assessment will be done.
Kirby also said the postponed visit by the Israeli delegation to the White House to discuss the IDF’s presence in Rafah in southern Gaza will likely be delayed again.
"I'm not sure that it's going to actually happen this week," he said. "I think folks are really sort of circling around sometime next week."
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
Egypt to dramatically increase number of aid trucks through Rafah crossing
Egypt has decided to increase the number of aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip through its Rafah border crossing to 300 trucks per day, Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt's State Information Service, said Sunday.
The average number of trucks entering the crossing daily since the beginning of April has been 55, Egyptian officials said.
A total of 322 trucks entered North Gaza via Rafah during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Rashwan said.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, more than 19,000 relief trucks have entered the Gaza Strip through Rafah, Rashwan said.
Rashwan also said 66,759 foreign passport holders and dual nationals exited Gaza into Egypt through Rafah since the war began. Some 3,764 wounded Palestinians and patients, along with 6,191 relatives have also left Gaza into Egypt, according to Rashwan.
-ABC News' Ayat Al-Tawy
Iran 'not the power it purports to be,' White House adviser says
Israel on Saturday demonstrated its "military superiority" against Iran while also showcasing its partnership with military allies, including the United States, John Kirby, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, said Monday.
Israel said Sunday about 99% of the missiles and drones launched by Iran were intercepted by Israel and its allies, a defense that Kirby called a "tremendous success."
"I think it did show, did demonstrate that Iran is not the power that it purports to be, that it doesn't have that same military superiority," Kirby said on "Good Morning America."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected on Monday to reconvene his war cabinet, a body that met on Sunday without deciding on a response to Iran's attack. And President Joe Biden and his G7 counterparts on Sunday released a statement urging Iran to cease its attacks.
"With its actions, Iran has further stepped toward the destabilization of the region and risks provoking an uncontrollable regional escalation," the G7 leaders' statement said. "This must be avoided."
The United States would not participate in an Israeli response, if the country decides to strike back against Iran, U.S. defense and security officials said on Sunday.
But the final decision on whether Israel strikes back will fall to Netanyahu, Kirby said Monday.
"The president was also clear, as he has been throughout, that we do not seek a wider war in the region and we don't seek conflict with Iran," he said.
-ABC News' Kevin Shalvey