Israel’s Operation Swords of Iron Update 10/8

On October 7, the day after the fiftieth anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, Hamas launched the deadliest attack in Israel’s history, firing over 3,000 rockets and sending gunmen to attack Israeli communities in the south by land, sea and air, killing at least 700 people and injuring at least 2,048. As Hamas’s main benefactor, Iran likely condoned, if not directed, the attack and could benefit if the war disrupts ongoing efforts to achieve normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Hezbollah’s decision to also fire rockets and mortars at Israel raises the specter of escalation to a multi-front conflict, potentially also involving Iran. The United States should continue to support Israel’s right to defend itself and to neutralize terrorist threats, including by replenishing Israel’s stocks of air defense interceptors or other critical capabilities, rapidly confirming a U.S. ambassador to Israel, and upgrading the depleted and obsolete prepositioned stock- pile of U.S. weaponry in Israel.

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