Washington —

Leaders of the Group of Seven major industrial nations will hold a video conference on Sunday to discuss Iran’s attack on Israel.

The meeting was convened by Italy, which holds the rotating presidency of the group, which also includes the United States, Japan, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Canada.

“We are deeply concerned about further instability in the region and will continue to work to avoid this,” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on X (formerly Twitter).

“We are trying to avoid a more serious military crisis,” Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said.

He told Italian broadcaster Rai3: “The G7 will send a message to Israel – that the utmost caution must be taken to ensure that the situation does not get worse – and Iran’s retaliatory actions last night could trigger a dangerous downward spiral. ”

Iran’s air strikes on Israel from Iranian territory marked a significant escalation in the conflict between regional powers and prompted the U.S. military to take action in support of Israel.

Iran’s top military force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, issued a predawn statement on Sunday saying it had launched missiles and drones from Iranian territory toward Israel. The attack was allegedly in retaliation for what Iranian officials said was an Israeli attack in Damascus on April 1 that killed several senior Iranian military commanders. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the April 1 attack.

IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Sunday that Iran fired more than 300 artillery shells at Israel, including from Yemen and Iraq, 99% of which were intercepted by Israeli air defense systems outside Israeli airspace. The Israel Airports Authority also announced earlier Sunday that Israeli airspace had reopened as of 7:30 a.m. Flight schedules at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport are subject to change, the company said.

Video posted on social media late Saturday showed some projectiles being intercepted over central and southern Israel and others falling to the ground and exploding amid sirens.

Hagari also said a young girl was injured in a crash in the southern Negev desert.

Other impacts caused minor damage to infrastructure at IDF bases in southern Israel, an IDF statement on Platform X said.

In a message to VOA, Israeli Reserve Brig.-Gen. Gen. Jacob Nagel, former national security adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Israeli forces intercepted the Iranian missile with assistance from the United States, Britain, Jordan and Saudi allies.

A U.S. military official confirmed to VOA that the U.S. military “continues to shoot down drones launched by Iran targeting Israel.”

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galante briefed U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Israel’s defense response to an Iranian attack, according to a statement from Galante’s office. According to the report, Galante emphasized that the Israeli defense establishment was “prepared for any further attempts to attack the country.”

U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Netanyahu on Saturday night. The official said Biden’s national security team “will continue to work with partners in the region to prevent further escalation.”

As Iran’s attack began, Netanyahu said in a televised address that Israel would “defend against any threat and will defend itself calmly and resolutely.”

Around the same time, White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson issued a statement saying the United States would “stand with the people of Israel and support their defense against these threats from Iran.”

“This attack could have occurred within hours. President Biden has made it clear: Our support for Israel’s security is ironclad,” Watson said.

Netanyahu acknowledged the support in his own statement, saying: “We thank the United States for standing with Israel, as well as the United Kingdom, France and many other countries for their support.”

The Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York posted on the X platform that the air strikes on Israel marked the end of Tehran’s military operations.

The statement added: “If the Israeli regime makes another mistake, Iran’s response will be even harsher. This is a conflict between Iran and the rogue Israeli regime, and the United States must stay away!”

In the latest statement released subsequently, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned that any US involvement in actions that harm Iran’s interests will be met with a “decisive and regretful response” by the Iranian military.

Nagel, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the Iranian attack was the first in decades of hostility between Iran and Israel and was likely to be a turning point in the conflict.

“We may see regional confrontation because it’s not just Iran versus Israel, but Iran versus the free world,” he said.

VOA national security correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this report. This report contains information obtained from Reuters and AFP.