Will Israel retaliate against Iran, or hold back?

“Take the win,” US President Joe Biden is reported to have urged Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the immediate aftermath of

Iran’s huge drone and missile attack

, according to Axios, an American news outlet.

Some 99 per cent of the 300 or more Iranian weapons that were launched at Israel were successfully intercepted, according to Israeli officials. Those that landed caused only minor damage at the Nevatim airbase in the south of the country, which remains fully operational.

The main casualty was a seven-year-old Bedouin girl

, seemingly wounded by falling debris. Israel had “demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks”, Mr Biden said.