Washington, April 14 : The leaders of G7 countries met virtually on Sunday and expressed "full solidarity and support to Israel and its people" and reaffirmed their "commitment towards its security".

"We, the Leaders of the G7, unequivocally condemn in the strongest terms Iran's direct and unprecedented attack against Israel. Iran fired hundreds of drones and missiles towards Israel. Israel, with the help of its partners, defeated the attack," they said in a statement released by the White House.

The G7 countries are the United States, Canada, Italy, Britain, France, Germany, and Japan, as well as the European Union.

"We express our full solidarity and support to Israel and its people and reaffirm our commitment towards its security," they said in the statement.

They said by launching the attack on Israel, Iran has "further stepped toward the destabilization of the region and risks provoking an uncontrollable regional escalation. This must be avoided".

They further said that they will "strengthen our cooperation to end the crisis in Gaza, including by continuing to work towards an immediate and sustainable ceasefire and the release of hostages by Hamas, and deliver increased humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in need".

President Biden separately spoke to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier 'to reaffirm America's ironclad commitment to the security of Israel".

Biden said in a statement: "I told him that Israel demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks ' sending a clear message to its foes that they cannot effectively threaten the security of Israel."

/IANS