U.S. Military Response to the Iran-Israel War and its Implications for Security and Security in the Middle East: A Preliminary Address from President Barack Obama
The war between Hamas and Israel will not be altered by drone warfare, even though a number of recent conflicts have been.
The earliest versions of its Qassam rocket were rudimentary: lightweight and capable of traveling just a few miles. The missile was bigger and could fly farther in each successive generation.
Over the past two decades, Hamas and Israel have engaged in a race, both of which wanted to frustrate the other’s efforts.
Like more than 20 non-state actors in conflict zones around the world, Hamas recognized that the drones could substantially upgrade its ability to wage war. Unguided missiles are designed to beat Israel’s air defenses by overwhelming them but drones are much harder to intercept. They fly low and don’t travel in a predictable, parabolic arch. As a number of countries have recently learned, thwarting an advancing drone—much less a number of them—is a tricky problem to solve.
The U.S. military said it would send more missile defense systems to the Middle East in response to “escalations” from Iran and its allies, who have threatened a broader war in the region. The deployment comes at a time when Israel continues to plan an invasion of Gaza.
In the wake of Hamas attacking Israel, the United States sent more military supplies to Israel and increased its troop presence in the region. President Biden, during a rare address from the Oval Office on Thursday, warned Iran and its allies to not join the war and has said he will seek an extra $14 billion in military aid for Israel from Congress.