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.
US says it will impose new sanctions on Iran in coming days
The United States announced Tuesday it will impose new sanctions targeting Iran in the coming days following its "unprecedented air attack against Israel."
The sanctions include targeting Iran's missile and drone program and new sanctions against entities supporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iran’s Defense Ministry, according to the White House's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.
"We anticipate that our allies and partners will soon be following with their own sanctions,” Sullivan said in a statement. "We will not hesitate to continue to take action, in coordination with allies and partners around the world, and with Congress, to hold the Iranian government accountable for its malicious and destabilizing actions."
The U.S. is telegraphing its sanction plan in advance to underscore the large international response that the U.S. is coordinating and to signal to Iran there will be diplomatic costs to what they've done, a senior administration official told ABC News. The official said they believe this will have an impact, in part, by bringing other countries on board.
-ABC News' Selina Wang
IDF's conduct, ethics under scrutiny following soldiers' social media posts
Six months into the Israel-Hamas conflict, the conduct and ethics of some Israel Defense Forces members have increasingly come under the microscope.
Incidents ranging from pranks to potentially criminal acts are being exposed to the world, often by videos soldiers themselves have posted online, according to critics and Israeli officials.
In many pictures and videos that have circulated since the conflict began, and which were reposted by pro-Palestinian activists to millions of followers, IDF soldiers are seen blowing up buildings in Gaza while in combat, waving women’s underwear like flags and rifling through the possessions of Gazans with gleeful expressions.
Younis Tirawi, a Palestinian activist, says he’s seen thousands of videos of IDF soldiers reportedly behaving improperly.
"You can see all the soldiers liking their posts," Tirawi told ABC News.
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Blinken to Israeli war cabinet: 'We do not want to see further escalation'
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, during which Blinken "continue[d] to send the same messages in all his conversations -- which is we do not want to see further escalation of the conflict," according to spokesperson Matt Miller.
Miller declined to say whether the U.S. assessed the threat of escalation had fallen, but an administration official said the amount of time that has already elapsed since Iran’s weekend attack had boosted hopes that Israel would exercise constraint.
Miller batted down reports that Iran and the U.S. were communicating through intermediaries in the wake of Tehran’s attack on Israel.
"There have not been such messages delivered. It's been days since we've communicated -- since we've sent messages to the government of Iran," Miller said. "And I say that as a reminder of something we've said before: Oftentimes, the Iranian government has misled the world about either messages they've passed to us or messages that we have passed to them."
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
UK prime minister 'gravely concerned' about humanitarian situation in Gaza
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday. While Netanyahu thanked Sunak for the U.K.'s support to counter Iran's weekend attack on Israel, Sunak also had harsh words for Netanyahu about the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
"On Gaza, the Prime Minister said he remained gravely concerned about the deepening humanitarian crisis," a Downing Street spokesperson said. "The U.K. wanted to see a massive step change in aid access to flood Gaza with vital supplies, including Israel opening up new aid routes as quickly as possible. The Prime Minister said it was deeply disappointing that Hamas blocked a deal at the weekend that would have saved Palestinian lives and secured the safe release of hostages."
US 'carefully' reviewing Israel's report on WCK attack, Blinken says
U.S. officials are reviewing Israel's report on the Israel military’s attack on World Central Kitchen aid workers "very carefully" and "will be discussing its conclusions with Israeli officials and with humanitarian organizations in the days to come," Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters.
The Israel Defense Forces said its airstrike in Gaza that killed seven WCK aid workers on Monday came after Israeli forces misidentified a WCK worker in the convoy as a Hamas gunman.
Blinken said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "indicated" to President Joe Biden in their Thursday call "that Israel would be making further changes to its procedures to make sure that those who are providing assistance to people who so desperately need it in Gaza are protected."
"It's very important that Israel is taking full responsibility for this incident. It's also important that it appears to be taking steps to hold those responsible accountable," Blinken said. "Even more important is making sure that steps are taken going forward to ensure that something like this can never happen again."
Blinken said the U.S. would be "looking to see not just what steps are being taken, but the results that follow" from potential changes to Israeli military operations.
-ABC News’ Chris Boccia