Israel has received support from the United States, the United Kingdom (UK), Jordan and France in its defense against an Iranian retaliatory strike.
It was reported that the US, the UK, Jordan and France provided coordinated support to the Israeli army in the attacks carried out by Iran with approximately 360 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles on the night between Saturday and Sunday.
In a statement made yesterday by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), it was stated that approximately 99 percent of the missiles and drones were neutralized by air defense systems.
The IDF also announced that a total of 4 billion to 5 billion Israeli shekels (approximately 35 billion to 43.5 billion Turkish liras) had been spent to neutralize Iranian missiles and drones.
At least three Iranian-launched ballistic missiles and 70 kamikaze drones were shot down by two US Navy destroyers deployed to Israel, US officials told CNN. One of these ships is equipped with the Aegis missile defense system produced by the American technology giant Lockheed Martin.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Royal Air Force (RAF) jets from Syria and Iraq had shot down the missiles and drones.
In his statement yesterday, Sunak did not provide information on how many missiles were shot down.
UK Defense Minister Grant Shapps said on April 13 that additional RAF jets and refueling tankers had been deployed to Syria and Iraq.
The Guardian also reported that Britain had increased security measures at its Agrotur base in the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus (GASC) ahead of the attack. No information was shared on whether support was provided to the defense from there.
The UK-based news agency Reuters reported that the Jordanian Air Force “shot down dozens of Iranian drones”. The report reminded that Jordan, which acts as a US ally in the Middle East, has American-made Patriot defense systems.
France was another country that defended Israel against Iranian aggression. French President Emmanuel Macron said today that they had intervened at Jordan’s request to stop Iranian missiles and drones. Macron did not provide information on how many drones or missiles were neutralized.
However, France may have provided support through radar technology rather than directly targeting the missiles and drones. “France has very good jets and radar, I know they participate in patrols in the airspace,” IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Sunday.
Speaking to the Guardian, Sidharth Kaushal of the Royal United Services Institute assessed the defensive moves:
It was a multi-layered operation in every way. A multinational force was involved in the defense. They faced weapons with different flight characteristics, from slow-moving drones to high-altitude ballistic missiles.
What happened?
On April 1, an airstrike was carried out on Iran’s consulate building in Damascus. In the incident, which was not officially claimed by Israel, 7 members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two generals, were killed.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on April 2 that retaliation against Israel has become a form of self-defense, saying, “We will respond appropriately. We will punish them.”
Israeli Army Spokesperson Daniel Hagari stated at a meeting on Friday that they are taking precautions against all possibilities and said, “We are ready to attack as well as defend.”
A 7-year-old girl was seriously injured by shrapnel from an Israeli interceptor missile in an Iranian attack that lasted nearly 5 hours. Amina al-Hasoni, 7, lives in the Najaf Desert, home to Arab Bedouins. The attack also lightly injured 8 people and damaged the Israeli army’s Nevatim airbase.
Guardian, CNN, Reuters, RT, Wall Street Journal
