American forces have been operating in the air, at sea, and on land to counter what Israeli military sources described as a sustained Iranian response to Israeli strikes.

The U.S. military has helped shoot down Iranian missiles that were headed toward Israel, two U.S. officials said on Friday.

Israel has multi-layered air defenses against attacks by Iran, which has fired hundreds of ballistic missiles and suicide drones at Israel over the past two days as the Middle East rivals traded heavy blows.