Latest satellite images on Friday showed radar systems connected to US-supplied missile defence networks in the Middle East, specifically in Jordan and the UAE, were hit during the ongoing Iran war. Apart from this, several military installations across the Arabian Peninsula showed signs of damage to facilities that typically house radar components used for missile detection.
Radars play crucial role in identifying incoming ballistic missiles
It should be noted that the radars play a crucial role in identifying incoming ballistic missiles and drones and are a core part of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence, which is designed to intercept and destroy ballistic missiles during flight.
The satellite images suggests a possible attempt to degrade regional air-defence capabilities by disabling radar systems that provide early warning and targeting data.
Israel launches series of strikes in Beirut
The development comes at a time when Israel launched a series of strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut after ordering all residents of the densely populated area to evacuate. Traffic was gridlocked in Lebanon's capital as panicked residents tried to flee after Israel's military issued an evacuation notice telling residents to "save your lives and evacuate your homes immediately," and specified which routes they should take to escape.
Hours later, strikes began to hit the Beirut suburbs. Since the resurgence of hostilities between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group, Israel has struck sites in Beirut's suburbs and issued a blanket warning for residents south of the Litani River - an area in southern Lebanon stretching to the border with Israel - to evacuate their homes, but had not previously issued a blanket evacuation order for Beirut's southern suburbs.
After the attacks by the United States and Israel on Iran triggered a new war in the Middle East, Hezbollah launched missiles and drones into Israel on Monday for the first time in over a year, and Israel has retaliated with bombardment of southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs.
Conflict had claimed 123 lives a
The conflict had claimed 123 lives and forced the displacement of more than 83,000 people in Lebanon before Thursday's evacuation order. Israel's far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, warned Thursday that the southern suburbs of Beirut, where Hezbollah has a strong presence, will look like Khan Younis, a city in Gaza that Israel has decimated during the war triggered by the Oct.7, 2023, Hamas-led attack in southern Israel.
