Seth J. Frantzman
On October 1, Iran launched 181 ballistic missiles at Israel. Israel was prepared for the escalation, having learned of it earlier in the day from the United States. Israel’s Home Front Command warned the country’s almost ten million people to prepare to go to their local bomb shelters. Shortly after the warning, Iran’s ballistic missiles streaked across the sky, targeting several locations in the Negev and in central Israel. Iran knew it was gambling with this attack, and it has tried to deter an Israeli response by claiming that it will attack with “an even more crushing and stronger response” next time.
Israel has vowed a harsher response to this attack than the previous one in April when Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel. Iran has been gambling and testing Israel over the past year. Over the past decade, the Islamic Republic has increased its capabilities to strike at Israel. It has expanded its ballistic missile arsenal and improved its range and precision. It has also invested heavily in kamikaze drones. It has exported both its missile and drone technology to proxies in the region, such as the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon. It has also moved drones and ballistic missiles to aligned militias in Iraq. This has had deadly results. Kataib Hezbollah, one of the militias backed by Iran in Iraq, killed three U.S. soldiers in a January drone attack in Jordan.
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