_____________

BRUSSELS - Belgium on Monday joined other EU countries in summoning Iran's ambassador to complain about Tehran's drone and missile attack on Israel and urge restraint.

"The Iranian Ambassador has just been summoned. Belgium strongly condemns Iran's attack on Israel," Belgium's foreign minister Hadja Lahbib wrote on X.

"We call on all parties to exercise the greatest restraint. A regional escalation is to be avoided."

The move by Belgium, which holds the European Union's rotating presidency, came after France, Germany and the Czech Republic said they were summoning the Iranian envoys in their respective capitals.

Iran over the weekend carried out its first-ever direct attack on Israel, launching hundreds of drones and missiles which the Israeli military said were nearly all intercepted.

The attack was in response to a strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus on April 1, which killed seven Revolutionary Guards including two generals and was widely blamed on Israel.

Tehran's assault followed months of violence involving Iranian proxies and allies claiming to support Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where Israel's six-month retaliatory offensive against Hamas militants has killed at least 33,797 people.

European nations, along with the United States, are scrambling to avoid the confrontation between Iran and Israel from spiralling into a larger conflict.