TEHRAN, Iran – Iran has launched drones at Israel, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Saturday night.

It said the wave could take hours to reach Israel.

It comes after days of anticipation that Iran was preparing to attack Israel in retaliation for a strike which killed a top Iranian commander.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country’s defence systems have been deployed and that Israel’s armed forces were ready.

“I established a clear principle – whoever hurts us, we hurt him. We will protect ourselves from any threat and we will do so with coolness and determination,” he said.