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As I wrote recently, Iran’s barrage of drones and missiles launched against Israel was a battlefield failure, but in many ways a propaganda victory. But, on the flipside of the ledger, there were more than a few ominous strategic outcomes for Iran.
First off, the only casualty of Iran’s expensive waste of military hardware was an Arab girl.
The Bedouin girl was hit by an Iranian shrapnel from a ballistic missile that hit her family home at Arad in Israel’s Negev Desert […]
The seven-year-old girl was hit on her head, making her the only casualty of the Iranian attack. She underwent surgery at the nearby Soroka Medical Center, but remains to be in a critical state.
Not a good look, when the anti-Israel narrative has been “but think of the children!” and the lie of “apartheid”.
The Bedouin are a group of nomadic Arab tribes that have historically lived in the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant in Israel.
As a matter of fact, Israel houses around 2.1 million Arab-Muslim population, making 21% of the Arabian population the Jewish state.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) also inducts Arabs and has seen an increase in the number from 606 in 2020, to 489 in 2019.
India Today
What was more important, though, was just who took whose sides. While Western leaders engaged in their usual doublespeak, pivoting to platitudes and finger-wagging about likely Israeli retaliation, the fact remains that multiple countries, including Arab nations, rallied to Israel’s defence, opening their airspace and helping to shoot down the incoming missiles.
Others surreptitiously passed along military intelligence about Iran’s plans.
Two days before the attack, Iranian officials told Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states about the profile of the response they were planning against Israel and its timing in order that those countries could secure their own airspace. That information was passed on to the US, providing vital details for the US and Israeli defense plans […]
According to the report, missiles and drones were immediately tracked after launch by radars in Persian Gulf countries via a US operations center in Qatar. The information was beamed to fighter jets from “several countries” in the air over Jordan and other countries, as well as to warships and Israel’s missile defense units.
The Times of Israel
Jordan, which has been a fierce critic of Israel’s campaign in Gaza, said it intercepted projectiles fired by Iran that entered its airspace. It also appeared to open up its airspace to Israeli and US fighter jets.
Business Insider
Of course, countries like Jordan and Saudi Arabia have complicated motives for helping Israel, but remember that these are also countries which once tried to wipe Israel off the map. The Iranian barrage is the first real test of the Donald Trump-brokered Abraham Accords.
More importantly, it shows that Shia Iran’s determination to fashion itself into the hegemon of the Islamic world is not going down too well with many of its Sunni neighbours.
Well, nobody ever said Middle Eastern politics was simple.
