The United States will deploy the Terminal High Altitude Defense (THAAD) missile defense system to Israel and “associated crew of U.S. military personnel,” according to a statement by Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Pat Ryder. The document also states that the order comes from Lloyd Austin at the direction of President Joe Biden, and is intended to protect Israelis and Americans in Israel against “any further ballistic missiles by Iran.” While the United States has sent THAAD missile systems into the region since the Hamas attack on Octobert 7th last year to protect American troops and interests, this marks the first time that the missile-defense system and American troops are going to be deployed in Israel explicitly to protect Israel, apart from a 2019 deployment for training purposes and exercises.
On October 1st, Iran launched 200 missiles in an attack on Israel, the vast majority of which were intercepted, leaving 1 indirect Israeli death from a heart attack and two lightly injured. A Palestinian was killed by shrapnel from an intercepted missile in Jericho. Iran’s barrage was the largest attack against Israel in the ongoing conflict between the two countries. Among other stated reasons, Iran declared that the offensive was in retaliation for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed on July 31st in his residence in Tehran through an Israeli airstrike. Haniyeh was the chief negotiator for Hamas in the now-stalled ceasefire negotiations.
Iran had also launched a drone and missile attack against Israel on April 13th of this year, this after Israel bombed the Iranian embassy complex in Damascus on April 1st, killing 16 people. Among the dead were 7 IRGC officers and one commander, as well as 2 Syrian civilians. No one was killed in Iran’s strike on April 13th, although a 7-year-old girl was severely injured when struck by part of a downed missile, and some 30 others suffered minor injuries. Iran has claimed that they gave warning of their attack up to three days prior, which Turkish, Jordanian, and Iraqi officials have all backed, but the United States denies, stating that Iran’s intent was to be “highly destructive.” Reporting also emerged showing that Iranian officials messaged through diplomatic channels in the 12 days after the Damascus attack that they were not interested in waging a full-scale war.
With vital backing from the U.S., Israel has established an impressive defensive system capable of intercepting a variety of threats, from short-range rockets (Israel’s famous Iron Dome) to long-range cruise missiles. According to U.S. officials, Israel has narrowed down potential targets for a response to Iran’s strikes on October 1st. Despite these robust defenses, Israel is not totally invulnerable from long-range attack, as drones launched by Hezbollah against a military base in the northern Israel today have left four Israeli solders dead and dozens injured.
