Israel-Iran crisis - live updates: Netanyahu accuses Tehran of crossing 'red line' as nations edge closer to conflict

Confrontation brings two of Middle East's major powers to brink of full-scale war

Syrian military video shows air defences trying to intercept Israeli missiles

Israel has launched one of the heaviest barrages against Iranian targets in neighbouring Syria since the civil war there began in 2011, after Iranian forces in the country bombarded Israeli army bases with rockets.

The attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights marks the first time Iranian forces have hit Israel from Syria, where they are supporting the country’s president, Bashar al-Assad.

Israel said its targets included weapons storage, logistics sites and intelligence centres used by elite Iranian forces in Syria. It also said it destroyed several Syrian air-defence systems after coming under heavy fire and that none of its warplanes were hit.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel's air strikes were “appropriate” because Iran had “crossed a red line.”

“We are in the midst of a protracted battle and our policy is clear: We will not allow Iran to entrench itself militarily in Syria,” Mr Netanyahu said in a brief video address.

Israel has largely tried to stay on the sidelines of Syria’s civil war, but has previously acknowledged carrying out over 100 airstrikes over the past seven years, most believed to be aimed at Iranian weapons shipments bound for the Hezbollah militant group.

The confrontation came as expectations of a regional flare-up were stoked by Donald Trump’s announcement he was withdrawing the US from the Iranian nuclear deal.

Israel and Iran have appeared to be on a collision course for months.

In February, Israel shot down what it said was an armed Iranian drone that entered Israeli airspace.

Israel responded by attacking anti-aircraft positions in Syria, and an Israeli warplane was shot down during the battle.

Russia has also sent forces to Syria to back the regime, but Israel and Russia have maintained close communications to prevent their air forces from coming into conflict.

Additional reporting by agencies

Key Points

• Israel and Iran on brink of full-scale war
• 23 fighters killed in Israeli strikes, Syrian war monitoring group says
• Israel's defence minister says he hopes latest round of violence is over
• Syria’s war appears to enter new chapter
• What it's like on the ground in Golan Heights
• UK 'condemns in strongest terms' Iranian rocket attacks on Israel

[10 May 2018 11:45 · Samuel Osborne]

Britain condemns Iran's attacks on Israel and calls on Russia to use its influence in Syria to stop any further attacks, a spokesman for Theresa May has said.

"We condemn Iran's attack on Israel. Israel has every right to defend itself," the prime minister's spokesman told reporters.

"We call on Iran to refrain from any further attacks and for calm on all sides. We call on Russia to use its influence in Syria to prevent further Iranian attacks."

[10 May 2018 12:16 · Samuel Osborne]

The Syrian army command said its anti-aircraft defences had destroyed the biggest part of a "successive wave" of Israeli rockets fired at its army bases, adding that the strikes had killed three people and injured several others.

In a statement on Syrian state television, an army spokesman said the strikes had also destroyed a radar station and weapons depot. It gave no details of the locations that were hit by Israel overnight.

Israel said it attacked nearly all of Iran's military infrastructure in Syria on Thursday after Iranian forces fired rockets at Israeli-held territory for the first time.

[10 May 2018 12:27 · Samuel Osborne]

Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, and France's president, Emmanuel Macron, have called for de-escalation in the Middle East after an alleged Iranian rocket barrage on Israeli positions in the Golan Heights prompted Israeli strikes on Iranian targets in Syria. 

The German government said Ms Merkel and Mr Macron discussed events in the Middle East and called for "level-headedness and de-escalation in the region." 

Ms Merkel alluded to the two countries' support for the Iran nuclear deal. She said: "We know that we face an extremely complicated situation here. The escalation of the last few hours shows it is truly a matter of war and peace, and I can only call on all involved to exercise restraint." 

[10 May 2018 12:31 · Samuel Osborne]

Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, has said the UK "condemns in the strongest terms the Iranian rocket attacks against Israeli forces."

He said: "We strongly support Israel’s right to defend itself.

“We urge Iran to refrain from further actions which will only lead to increased instability in the region.

"It is crucial to avoid any further escalations, which would be in no one’s interest.

"We also continue to call on Russia to use its influence to press those in Syria to cease their destabilising activity and work towards a broader political settlement.”

[10 May 2018 12:44 · Samuel Osborne]

Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said Moscow has urged Iran and Israel to avoid acts which could lead to a spiral of conflict.

He said Thursday's strikes were "very alarming development" and stressed "the necessity of avoiding any actions that might be mutually provocative"

[10 May 2018 13:03 · Chris Baynes]

"An Israeli statement that the Iranians had missiles in Syria was surely made in concert with the Trump administration," writes The Independent's Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk. "It came within hours, and coincidences don’t run that close in the Middle East."

[10 May 2018 13:08 · Chris Baynes]

Syria's foreign ministry has said Israel's latest move towards "direct confrontation... indicates the start of a new phase of aggression against" Damascus.

"This aggressive conduct by the Zionist entity... will lead to nothing but an increase in tensions in the region," an official was quoted as saying by state news agency SANA.

[10 May 2018 13:09 · Samuel Osborne]

Germany's foreign minister, Heiko Maas, has said the attacks on the Golan Heights were a provocation and Israel has right to self defence.

[10 May 2018 13:27 · Chris Baynes]

"The escalating military clashes between Israel and Iran are serious, worrying and a rapid manifestation of the insecurity and strife which was always likely to follow Donald Trump’s reneging of the nuclear agreement with Tehran," writes our defence correspondent, Kim Sengupta.

[10 May 2018 13:38 · Chris Baynes]

Bahrain's foreign minister has said Iran has a right to defend itself if Iran's uses its military to attempt to destabilise the region.

"It is the right of any country in the region, including Israel, to defend itself by destroying sources of danger," wrote Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa on Twitter.

Bahrain is a close US ally and considers Iran a regional threat. The tiny island-nation accuses its Persian Gulf neighbor of arming and training Shiite Bahraini protesters with the aim of destabilising the Sunni-ruled country.

Bahrain has also welcomed Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the nuclear accord with Iran.