German government crisis team to discuss Iran attack on Israel

Annalena Baerbock, Germany's Foreign Minister, speaks in the German Bundestag on the 30th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda. Kay Nietfeld/dpa

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is to chair a meeting of the government's Crisis Response Center in Berlin on Sunday to discuss the overnight air attack on Israel mounted by Iran, the Foreign Ministry has announced.

The meeting follows the first direct attack on Israeli territory from Iran. An Israeli military spokesman said that 99% of some 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles had been intercepted by Israel and its allies, with minimal damage caused.

Iran's "Operation Truthful Promise" was mounted in revenge for an airstrike on its embassy grounds in Damascus on April 1 in which two generals and others were killed. Israel is believed to have carried out the attack and has not denied responsibility.

Whether Israel will respond to the Iranian attack is not yet clear.

© Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH