Israel's War on Gaza Live: Israel pounds Rafah in overnight strikes

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has condemned in the "strongest terms the Iranian regime's reckless attack against Israel". 

"Iran has once again demonstrated that it is intent on sowing chaos in its own backyard," he said. 

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has posted a video recorded on Wednesday in which he vowed that Israel would be "punished".

"Attacking our consulate is like attacking our soil. This is what is common around the world. The malicious Zionist regime has made a wrong move in this case. It should be punished and it will be punished," he said in a video captioned in English and posted to X social media a little more than hour after a salvo of drones were launched toward Israel.

On 1 April, an air strike hit the Iranian consulate in Damascus, killing a general and six other senior commanders. 

Iran has also launched cruise missiles at Israel, with shorter flight times than its drones, according Israel's Channel 12 news. 

Jordan's air defenses are ready to intercept any Iranian drones or aircraft that violate its airspace, two regional security sources told Reuters. 

Iran's drone salvo is expected to arrive above Israel at 2am, local time, Israel's Channel 12 news has reported. 

Meanwhile, Iran's Revolutionary Guards confirmed that they launched extensive drone strikes against targets in Israel, according to Iranian English-language press TV. 

Iraq shuts down airspace and grounds all air traffic, according to its Transport Ministry. 

The move follows Jordan's closure of its airspace around an hour before reports of Iranian drones being launched toward Israel. 

Israel's presidential aircraft "Wing of Zion", is airborne due to "operational considerations" concerning reports of Iranian drones launched toward Israel, an Israeli military source has said, according to Reuters. 

Dozens of Iranian UAV drones have been launched toward Israel, Israel's Channel 12 has reported. 

The drones could take hours to arrive and can be intercepted by various air defense systems, including fighter jets already in air around Israel. 

In response, an Israeli military source told Reuters that Israel's defenses are poised to handle any attack. 

An American official has said there is a significant chance that Iran will attack Israel "in the early hours of Sunday", Al Jazeera news reporting.

According to the official, the attack could come from Iranian territory, and could involve its allies in Iraq and Syria.

Meanwhile, Haaretz has reported that an Israeli has said Iran is likely to attack military targets. 

Jordan's airspace will be temporarily closed starting Saturday night to all incoming, departing and transiting aircraft, Jordan's al-Mamlaka state news broadcaster said in a post to X. 

Translation: Jordan to temporarily close its airspace to incoming, departing and transit aircraft

Israel has called off all school trips and other youth activities planned for the coming days, the beginning of the Passover festival, and placed the armed forces on full alert due to a possible attack by Iran.

Announcing the measures in a televised briefing, chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said dozens of combat planes were airborne as part of the state of readiness.

One reporter for Middle East Eye in Jerusalem shared an official letter from the local school district listing the various activities that had been canceled, including summer camps and holiday festivities for students of all ages. 

Fouad Hassan, a resident of Qusra, a village south of Nablus, spoke to Middle East Eye about an attack on his village this evening, in which a number of Palestinians were injured and at least eight homes were burned.

The settlers gathered at the entrance to the village, coming from the Esh Kodesh settlement outpost with "full protection from the Israeli army", Hassan said.

"They began attacking homes in the southwestern areas of the village, burning a number of them, then setting fire to residents' vehicles."

A similar attack on the village of al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah, took place overnight Friday.

The people of Qusra initially succeeded in confronting the attack and preventing the settlers from penetrating further into their village, Hassan said, but the presence of Israeli soldiers motivated the attacking groups to push forward, seeking to cause "the greatest damage to Palestinian property possible".

According to Hassan, the army began firing live and rubber bullets at Palestinian residents, wounding more than four with varying injuries, while a number of others were injured after settlers threw stones at them.

The Israeli army prevented medical teams from reaching the village, he said, forcing families to receive and treat the wounded in their homes.

"Approximately every two weeks, settlers attack Qusra repeatedly, and the army is their protector and greatest helper. The main entrance to the village, meanwhile, has been closed for five months, preventing its people from freedom of movement."

Qusra was subjected to an attack by settlers around the start of Israel's aggression in Gaza last October, which led to the killing six residents within just two days, Hassan noted. 

US President Joe Biden will return to Washington this afternoon to consult with his national security team about events in the Middle East, cutting short his weekend trip to Delaware, the White House said.

On Friday, Biden said that he expects an Iranian attack against Israel "sooner, rather than later", as Tehran has vowed to retaliate for Israel's attack on Iran's embassy compound last week in Damascus that killed a senior commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and six other officers.

The US embassy in Beirut has warned citizens against travel to border regions with Israel and Syria due to increased tensions in the region.

"We remind US citizens of the continued need for caution and encourage them to monitor the news for breaking developments," the embassy said.

Several countries have issued warnings to their citizens about travelling to Israel, Lebanon and Palestine in the past few days amid fears of escalating regional tensions as Iran said it would seek revenge after Israel allegedly struck its consulate in Damascus.

Analyst Hasan Alhasan of the International Institute for Strategic Studies said that if the seizure of the MSC Aries was in retaliation for Israel's strike on Iran's Damascus consulate, it showed a desire to save face without a wider escalation.

"Iran may be trying to play on fears that it could obstruct shipping through the strait [of Hormuz], a passageway of greater significance to global oil and gas supplies than the Red Sea," he said.

"If Iran were to limit itself to seizing commercial vessels linked to Israel then it would minimise the risk of an all-out conflict but damage its own credibility," he added.

Read More: Iran seizes Israel-linked cargo ship in Strait of Hormuz after threats to close waterway