Report: Israel’s Air Defense in Short Supply amid Ongoing War

October 16, 2024

by: Kate Norman

Wednesday, 16 October 2024 | After engaging in a year-long multi-front war with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as sporadic attacks from Syria, Iran and other players, Israel’s missile defense supply is dwindling, according to a Tuesday report by the Financial Times.

Since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 and all the ensuing fighting since then, Israel has been targeted by more than 20,000 rockets and missiles from Hamas and Hezbollah. The Jewish state has also been targeted by two Iranian barrages in the past year: once in April and again earlier this month.

And Jerusalem has vowed to respond to Iran’s barrage of 180 missiles on October 1. This could spark a retaliatory strike, however, that could overwhelm Israel’s air defenses, a former US defense official noted.

“Israel’s munitions issue is serious,” former US defense official Dana Stroul told the Financial Times. “If Iran responds to an Israel attack, and Hezbollah joins in too, Israel’s air defenses will be stretched.”

The CEO of Israel Aerospace Industries, which produces aerospace technology for civilian and military use—including Israel’s air defense systems—told the Financial Times that some of their production lines are working 24/7 “to meet all of our obligations.”

Nonetheless, the supply seems to be dwindling, meaning the Israeli military could be forced to prioritize in the future which areas to defend from aerial attacks.

The US will help bridge the gap by sending a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile system (THAAD), an advanced anti-missile system to bolster the Jewish state’s defenses particularly amid the threat of future attacks from Iran.

THAAD, using an advanced radar, can defend against short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles, Reuters reported, citing Lockheed Martin, Washington’s largest arms producer, which designed THAAD.

Washington will not be able to supply both Ukraine and Israel indefinitely, however, Stroul noted to the Financial Times.

Hezbollah began launching near-daily attacks on Israel on October 8, 2023, one day after Hamas’s devastating massacre last year. Some 60,000 residents of northern Israel have had to evacuate their homes since then. Last month, Israel added to its list of goals for the ongoing war: returning northern Israelis safely to their homes.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) launched a ground operation as well as air strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon earlier this month, targeting Hezbollah leadership, weapons stashes and other terror targets.

However, the Iran-backed terrorist group has not yet unleashed its full strike potential on the Jewish state yet, former IDF General Assaf Orion told the Financial Times.

Hezbollah “has only been firing at around a tenth of its estimated prewar launching capacity, a few hundred rockets a day instead of as many as 2,000,” Orion noted. “Some of that gap is a choice by Hezbollah not to go full out, and some of it is due to degradation by the IDF…But Hezbollah has enough left to mount a strong operation.”

Before Hamas triggered the war on October 7 last year, Hezbollah’s arsenal was estimated to be 150,000 rockets and missiles. It is unclear exactly how much of the arsenal Israel wiped out in its targeted attacks, but it’s clear that despite Israel’s ongoing efforts in this multi-front war, the threat in the north is far from extinguished.

Posted on October 16, 2024

Source: (Bridges for Peace, October 16, 2024)

Photo Credit: NATO/Flickr.com

Photo License: Flickr