News EditorThe United States will send a high-altitude anti-missile system and military crew to Israel to strengthen its air defenses following a missile attack from Iran earlier this month. The Pentagon announced that President Joe Biden ordered the deployment of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery to help protect Israel.
Iran launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles toward Israel on October 1. While the Israeli military intercepted most of them, several missiles hit areas in central and southern Israel.
Israel has yet to confirm its response to the attack, but Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has promised a “deadly, precise, and surprising” retaliation. Meanwhile, Iran warned that any Israeli attack would not go unanswered.
The Pentagon emphasized the US’s strong commitment to defending Israel and US citizens in the region from further missile threats. The US had previously deployed a similar THAAD system to Israel for training in 2019 and after the October 7 Hamas attack last year.
Iran stated its missile strike was in retaliation for the assassinations of key leaders from Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), accusing Israel of targeting these figures in recent weeks. Israel has intensified its airstrikes on Hezbollah positions in Lebanon following repeated cross-border fire, which began last October.
Efforts to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza have so far been unsuccessful.
