They are to take about seven hours to reach Israeli soil.

Within the last few minutes, Hebrew and English language media outlets here in Israel began reporting that in a major escalation of the last six months of war, the leadership of the Iranian regime decided on Saturday evening to launch the attack.

Dozens of Israeli fighter jets have been scrambled and are preparing to shoot down the UAVs.

Israeli air defenses — including Patriot and Arrow systems and the David’s Sling system — are in high alert to intercept the drones, as well.

All Israeli schools have been ordered closed on Sunday which is the first day of the work week in Israel.

“It’s begun,” wrote Rob Satloff, head of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, on X (formerly known as Twitter) moments ago. “For the first time since Saddam Hussein lobbed SCUD (ballistic missiles) in 1991, the government of a UN-member state — not a terrorist group, militia or proxy — has launched a major attack against Israel.”

“With US support,” Satloff added, “let’s hope Israel defends successfully so this failed attack is just another example of the failure of Iran’s failed revolution.”

Here is the official IDF statement issued at 11:13pm local time.

IDF: A short while ago, Iran launched UAVs from within its territory toward Israel.

The IDF is on high alert and is constantly monitoring the operational situation. The IDF Aerial Defense Array is on high alert, along with IAF fighter jets and Israeli Navy vessels that are on a defense mission in Israeli airspace. The IDF is monitoring all targets.

We ask the public to adhere to and follow the instructions of the Home Front Command and the official IDF announcements regarding the matter.

This marks the first time in history that the Iranian regime has launched a direct military attack on Israel from Iranian soil, rather than using terror proxy forces like Hamas or Hezbollah.

This marks a dramatic escalation.

Two big questions.

First, will the IDF be able to intercept and shoot down all the Iranian UAVs before they reach Israeli airspace, do damage and injure or kill Israelis?

Second, how big will Israel’s retaliation be — and would that be the end, or just the beginning of a major new aspect to this war?

Sound off about this story on The Liberty Daily Substsack.

We shouldn’t have any dealings with Iran. We should not be sending aid to Israel. They can BUY arms from us. We’re in no position to give it away, especially with the possibility of U.S. military involvement in four regions across the globe (all of which I would oppose, of course). We would not be getting attacked by Houthis or anyone else if we weren’t in the region at all.

America can block idiotic U.N. resolutions. We can offer intelligence, satellite reconnaissance, and other information that we’re already in the process of gathering. We can and should pray for God’s Will to be done. And yes, we can SELL them weapons. Otherwise, we shouldn’t be getting involved or sending taxpayer dollars to Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan, or anyone else that looks at us as their wartime piggybank.

With all that said, I do appreciate Rosenberg’s understanding of the schizophrenic nature of the regime’s Middle East policies. As usual, Biden’s handlers have him acting like a dog on a leash in a room full of cats. He’s pulling in every direction while tripping over himself to accomplish nothing. Here’s Rosenberg’s article…

(All Israel)—U.S. President Joe Biden is pursuing a schizophrenic policy in the Middle East that is not only dangerous, it’s disastrous.

For some crazy reason, the Biden White House keeps giving billions of dollars to the Iranian terror regime. They are doing precious little to enforce economic sanctions against the Iranian regime.

They are also refusing to take truly tough and decisive military action against Tehran despite the fact that Iranian-funded and backed Shia terror proxies in the region have launched at least 76 attacks on U.S. military forces since Oct. 17.

That said, Biden is standing with Israel in our brutal fight against Hamas. The president made a solidarity trip here to Israel shortly after the war began. He has spoken out against the lies being told about Israel by Hamas and many in the so-called “mainstream” media. He has sent Israel dozens of plane loads full of ammunition and other military aid.

On Friday, Biden vetoed a resolution in the Security Council – sponsored by the United Arab Emirates – that would have forced Israel to accept an immediate cease-fire.

“The vote in the 15-member council was 13-1, with the United Kingdom abstaining,” the Associated Press reported.

“The United States’ isolated stand reflected a growing fracture between Washington and some of its closest allies over Israel’s monthslong bombardment of Gaza. France and Japan were among those supporting the call for a cease-fire.”

“U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood called the resolution ‘imbalanced’ and criticized the council after the vote for its failure to condemn Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel in which the militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, or to acknowledge Israel’s right to defend itself. He declared that halting military action would allow Hamas to continue to rule Gaza and ‘only plant the seeds for the next war.’”

“Hamas has no desire to see a durable peace, to see a two-state solution,” Wood said before the vote. “For that reason, while the United States strongly supports a durable peace, in which both Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace and security, we do not support calls for an immediate cease-fire.”

Good for Biden.

The resolution should have condemned Hamas and called on their radical Islamist jihadists to lay down their arms and surrender. But it didn’t. Rather, it tried to pressure Israel into surrendering to Hamas-driven genocide.

I’m appalled that the UAE and almost every other member of the Security Council supported such a terrible resolution. And I’m grateful that Biden showed moral clarity by vetoing it.

At the same time, I’m appalled by how weak Biden is acting toward the terror masters in Tehran. Through their proxies in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, and Syria, the mullahs are literally getting away with murder. Israelis are being murdered.

And American military personnel in the region are being wounded over and over and over again. Why does Biden let it happen? Why does the leader of the world’s only superpower show such weakness in the face of the world’s biggest sponsor of terrorism?

Enough is enough. Biden’s poll numbers aren’t just plummeting because Americans despise his economic and social policies. They also cannot stomach his feckless foreign policies, especially towards Iran.

Biden thinks of himself as passionately pro-Israel. And I’m truly grateful for what he’s doing to defend the Jewish state militarily and diplomatically. But his unwillingness to truly and decisively confront the Iranian regime is completely unacceptable.

Biden is allowing the mullahs to get away with murder. Even as they feverishly pursue fully operational nuclear weapons that could lead to a Second Holocaust.

We are seeing growing evidence of Biden’s schizophrenic approach toward the Middle East. And it’s increasingly clear that such an approach is not only dangerous. It’s disastrous.