A few weeks ago, we told you about this massive strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria. Some top Iranian military officials were killed. Israel never officially copped to it, but all the intelligence pointed to them as being behind it. And ever since, officials from Tel Aviv to Washington, DC have been bracing for retaliation from Iran. It wasn't a matter of if, it was just a matter of when and what form it would take. Iran had never attacked Israel directly from Iranian territory before. Well, Saturday afternoon we learned that President Joe Biden was rushing back to the white House and not long after this unprecedented attack was underway.

We're continuing to see multiple, intercepts, in the skies above me.

It has been several hours since we first reported that Iran had launched more than 100 drones at Israel from Iranian territory, followed shortly thereafter by cruise missiles and then a wave of ballistic missiles.

We've heard Israeli officials say that if the attack comes from Iranian soil, Israel will respond on Iranian soil. So there's a real danger of escalation today.

What happened and what it can mean for the region and the ongoing war in Gaza. From CNN. This is Tug of War. I'm David Rind.

CNN's Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward is here. She is in Tel Aviv. So, Clarissa, we're talking on Sunday, and it's been about 19 hours or so since Iran launched this attack on Israel. What exactly did it look like? Like how did it play out?

'Well, it played out over a series of many hours. There was ample warning that the attack had gone into effect with hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles being fired towards Israeli territory, some of them being intercepted in somewhat spectacular fashion over the city of Jerusalem. And people across the country just sort of pinching themselves as they saw these scenes of intercepts lighting up the night sky over the Al-Aqsa mosque. There were several specific areas that the Israeli military warned residents to stay close to heart shelter. Sirens were going off in many parts of the country, though not in Tel Aviv. Israel closed its airspace to all civilian aircraft. You could hear drones and jets throughout the night, and I think there was a sense, David, that this was a seismic moment and a moment that really changed the status quo in the Middle East, many obviously fearing that this portends a broader regional conflagration. Yeah, but ultimately, 99% of those missiles and drones, according to the IDF, were intercepted. There were several, ballistic missiles that did make impact. Those were in the southern part of Israel, near the never Team Air Force base. They, according to the IDF, only resulted in some minor, damage to infrastructure. But the base is significant because that is where Israel's F-35 fighter jets are, and that is where Iran says Israel launched its April 1st attack against Iran's consulate in Damascus that resulted in the killing of seven Iranians, who the Israelis say were part of the Al-Quds forces.

I'm no military expert, but the same kind of choreographed by Iran. Like they made it very clear in the days ahead, like they were going to do something everybody knew was going to happen. And even once the drones took off, there were many hours, like you say, for Israel's military and others to get ready. So we've talked about how they don't want to really get dragged into some any bigger thing. So do we think this is it from them?

The Iranians put out a tweet shortly after all those missiles and drones have been fired off, essentially saying that this was a robust response, but that that was the end of it. That was viewed by many with some skepticism. And I think a lot of people even scoffed because they were saying that before the missiles and drones had even landed or been intercepted. But I do think that broadly, you will hear a lot of analysts saying that this was an attempt from Iran to escalate without going over the top to make a statement and a strong point, but to avoid civilian casualties and to avoid massive damage that would necessitate an even more robust response or retaliation from Israel. At the same time, this is a dramatic escalation. We have not seen a direct attack on Israeli soil from Iran itself in many, many decades. And so there is a sense that this changes the calculation. And there is also a sense that whether it is intentional or not, it could potentially push the region over into the brink of something much darker and more dangerous.

Well, so what is the calculation then from Israel? Like, are they going to respond in a similar way?

'That's the million dollar question. The war cabinet has been in session for about, 2.5 hours now. That's about now 615 Israel time on Sunday. We have heard from the centrist War cabinet minister, Benny Gantz, that they will form a regional coalition and, quote, exact a price on Iran in the time and manner of our choosing. But we don't know what that might look like exactly. There are calls from the sort of hardline right elements of Netanyahu's coalition to exact a much more painful toll on Iran. Ben-Gvir, the hardline national security minister, calling. Benny Gans. His comments quote hollow Western catchphrases and emphasizing the importance of reestablishing deterrence. But those hardline elements are not part of that war cabinet, so it's not clear how much influence they would have on whatever course of action Israel decides to take. The other factor in this, of course, is to what extent Netanyahu takes on board the advice and urging of caution from President Biden, who has said that the U.S. will not be part of a retaliatory attack, Who has urged Israel not to escalate, and who has told Israel and Netanyahu to, quote, take the win. Because for many, this is seen as almost a gift to Netanyahu in that through this action, Iran has really deflected attention away from Gaza, away from the fate of those hostages, away from the protests that are gathering momentum here weekly, calling for Netanyahu to step down.

So Israel is able to say, like, hey, we were able to shoot down almost all of these drones and missiles. And President Biden is like, you guys should take that and calm things down from here.

You should take that. You should consider it to be a win. You should be mindful of not escalating the situation any further. But at this point, it's very difficult to know whether Israel will heed the advice of its biggest backer, whether it will feel the need to capitulate to some of the more hardline elements, and what course of action it will ultimately choose to pursue.

We'll be right back.

Welcome back to Tug of War and my conversation with CNN's Clarissa Ward.

Does Iran have the military capability to go back and forth with Israel? If it does get to that point, like what are they capable of?

I think the understanding is that Iran does not have the same sort of capabilities, certainly that Israel has, but it has made a point that it can attack Israel directly. And we have heard from Iran's leadership today, again, that it intends to continue to attack Israel directly when it sees fit or when it believes that it has come under attack previously. For many decades, Iran has relied on proxies and asymmetrical warfare. So this is a sea change, and the fact that a number of ballistic missiles were able to penetrate Israeli airspace and did make impact near that airbase in southern Israel, is certainly significant, because this was an attack that the Israelis had almost two weeks to prepare for. Iran had really telegraph that this was coming. And so there is kind of a question mark going forward that while Israel's response was robust, had enormous support from its allies that potentially Iran could inflict more damage going forward if it decided to act in a less telegraphed way.

You mentioned that this kind of distracts from what is going on in Gaza right now. Does this complicate the possibility of a ceasefire deal at this point? Like how does this impact those negotiations?

'Those negotiations have really hit a wall. We heard today from the Israeli side that Hamas had rejected the latest proposal for a cease fire agreement and a hostage release. I think, though, there's a sense that this has inadvertently, potentially helped Israel because it changes the conversation. Israel was so isolated on the world stage. Israel was facing so much criticism for its handling of this war, and now it can try to reframe the conversation around this conflict as being centered on self-defense, as being centered on the idea of Israel against Iran and the world against Iran.

Clarissa. Thank you.

Thank you.

Tug of War is a production of CNN audio. This episode was produced by our senior producer Hayley Thomas and me, David Rind. Dan Dzula is our technical director and Steve Lickteig is the executive producer of CNN Audio. We get support from Alex Manasseri, Robert Mathers, John Dianora, Leni Steinhart, Jamus Andrest, Nichole Peasaru, and Lisa Lisa Namerow. Special thanks to Caroline Paterson, Flora Charner, Natasha Maguder, Brant Swails, and Katy Hinman. We'll be back on Wednesday. I'll talk to you then.