By Jerome Taylor, Heather Chen, James Legge, Sophie Tanno, Emma Tucker, Kaanita Iyer, Paul LeBlanc, Catherine Nicholls, Maureen Chowdhury, Antoinette Radford and Eve Rothenberg, CNN
From CNN's MJ Lee
The US will not participate in any offensive operations against Iran, US President Joe Biden has made clear to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a senior administration official told CNN.
The comments were relayed during the phone call that the two leaders shared in the aftermath of Iran's retaliatory strikes against Israel.
From CNN's MJ Lee
Israel should consider tonight a win because the current US assessment is that Iran’s attacks had been largely unsuccessful and demonstrated Israel’s superior military capability, President Joe Biden told Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in their phone call, a senior administration official told CNN.
The US’s assessment tonight was that almost all of the drones and missiles – including more than 100 ballistic missiles -- launched by Iran had been knocked out of the sky. No cruise missile made impact, the official said, and nothing of “value” was hit.
From CNN’s Benjamin Brown in London
There have been no reports of injuries suffered directly through Iranian strikes, according to Israel’s emergency service.
However, the Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency service said it was called to treat a total of 31 people who suffered minor injuries while making their way to shelters and who suffered panic attacks during the drone and missile attacks.
Earlier, MDA said it had taken a 7-year-old girl to hospital who had suffered a severe head injury due to shrapnel from an interceptor missile that was launched to intercept an Iranian projectile.
More than 55 rockets have been fired from Lebanon to Israel over the past hour, according to the Israeli military's spokesperson.
This comes after about 40 rockets were fired at Israel from southern Lebanon on Friday, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Hezbollah militants said they had fired the rockets at Israeli artillery positions in response to recent Israeli attacks and in support of Palestinian people in Gaza.
Remember: Since the start of the Hamas-Israel war on October 7, Israel's flare-up with Hezbollah has intensified on Lebanon’s southern border with Israel.
Hezbollah — a Lebanese armed group backed by Iran — has its main area of operations there. Hezbollah has frequently fired missiles into Israel since October 7 and Israel has responded with its own fire, including airstrikes. Israel has ordered the evacuation of communities along the Lebanese border.
From CNN’s Oren Liebermann
The wave of strikes launched from Iran towards Israel appears to have subsided, two US officials said. The attacks lasted approximately five hours.
Early Sunday morning in Israel, the country’s Home Front Command canceled its request for citizens to remain near shelters, an indication that the Israeli military believes the immediate threat of incoming attack has passed.
The US, along with Israel, monitored the barrage of drone and missile attacks that began Saturday night and continued into early Sunday morning. The number of launches appeared to fall during Sunday's early hours, the officials said.
US forces throughout the region were positioned to provide defensive support to Israel ahead of the attack, and the US intended to intercept as many of the launches as it could. US forces intercepted a number of drones intended for Israel as part of a coordinated defensive effort, and Washington remains vigilant for the potential of more activity.
However, even as the number of Iranian drone and missile launches has fallen, Iranian proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon fired a barrage of rockets at northern Israel early Sunday morning.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Saturday that Israel had been preparing for an attack from Iran.
"In recent years, and especially in recent weeks, Israel has been preparing for a direct attack by Iran," he said.
"Our defensive systems are deployed; we are ready for any scenario, both defensively and offensively. The State of Israel is strong. The IDF is strong. The public is strong," he said.
Netanyahu thanked the US, Britain, France and its other allies for "standing alongside Israel."
"We have determined a clear principle: Whoever harms us, we will harm them. We will defend ourselves against any threat and will do so level-headedly and with determination," his statement said.
From CNN's Haley Britzky
Ahead of Iran launching dozens of drones toward Israel, President Joe Biden on Friday made clear the US would help defend its ally.
“We are devoted to the defense of Israel,” he said from the White House. “We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed.”
The US has forces in Iraq and Syria that could potentially intercept drones en route to Israel, depending on the location from which they’re launched. US Navy forces in the Red Sea have previously intercepted long-range missiles launched from the Houthis in Yemen toward Israel.
Troops in region: There are thousands of US troops throughout the Middle East, and a US defense official told CNN this week that the Defense Department was moving additional assets to the Middle East.
At the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, the US shifted a significant number of assets to the Middle East in an attempt to act as a deterrence and prevent the conflict from spilling out into the region more broadly.
Another roughly 1,000 US troops are still en route to help set up a floating pier that will be used to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said this week that it was still on track to be operational by late April or early May.
Strike group: The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group remains in the region. The strike group includes 6,000 sailors, the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG 58), and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Mason (DDG 87) and USS Gravely (DDG 107). The group also includes Carrier Air Wing Three, which is composed of nine squadrons, including four strike fighter squadrons.
Houthi attacks: For the last several months, the US has continuously shot down missiles, rockets, and drones launched by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, as well as attacks launched by Iran-backed proxy groups in Iraq and Syria. Three US soldiers were killed in January when a drone was launched at a small US outpost in Jordan.
CENTCOM leader: Gen. Erik Kurilla, the commander of CENTCOM who is the senior general overseeing US forces in the Middle East, was in Israel on Friday for meetings with his Israeli counterparts. A US official told CNN on Saturday that Kurilla had left the country.
From CNN's Lauren Izso, Jeremy Diamond, Hamdi Alkhshali and Adam Pourahmadi
Iran launched a wave of retaliatory strikes toward Israel, fueling fears of regional escalation following an apparent Israeli attack on an Iranian embassy complex in Syria last week.
Several dozen drones were launched from within Iran on Saturday, a senior US administration official told CNN, while an Israeli military officer put the number at “more than 100.” Iran state media confirmed that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had “launched extensive drone strikes against targets in occupied territories,” referring to Israel.
Missiles were also launched, according to Israeli and Iranian media.
Public shelters were opened in the northern Israeli city of Haifa and Israel’s transportation ministry said it would close its airspace. Nearby Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq also announced the temporary closure of their airspace.
US President Joe Biden met with his national security team to assess the attack, according to a US official.
The US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said Saturday that Biden is “in constant communication with Israeli officials as well as other partners and allies,” and reaffirmed his position that the administration’s “support for Israel’s security is ironclad.”
