The Middle East crisis • Israel-Iran

Lack of anti-aircraft robots in Israel: "No secret"

Israel risks suffering from a shortage of anti-aircraft robots, reports the Financial Times. The newspaper has, among other things, spoken to former military personnel and analysts who state that the country's strengthened air defense due to the conflict in the region leads to shortages.

Dana Stroul, former Middle East director at the US Department of Defense, says the issue is "serious".

In the past few days, the US robotic defense system Thaad was sent to Israel. Boaz Levy, director of the state-owned company Israel Aerospace Industries, which manufactures robots, says at the same time that Israel's arms industry is working hard to "fulfill our obligations."

- It is no secret that we need to replenish the stocks, he says.

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Iranian military chief appears in public after death rumors

The top commander of the Iranian Quds Force, Esmail Qaani, has appeared in public after several weeks of absence, AFP reports.

Qaani was seen at the funeral ceremony for General Abbas Nilforoushan in the Iranian capital Tehran on Tuesday morning. Nilforoushan was the leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops in Lebanon. He was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut last month.

In recent weeks, there have been rumors about everything from Qaani being killed to his arrest or having a heart attack and being hospitalized, writes TT.

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Analysis: "The Thaad system should strengthen and deter"

The US sending the powerful Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) robotic defense system to Israel shows that Israel's need for US support in the war is increasing. That's what the BBC's Washington correspondent Tom Bateman writes in an analysis.

He writes that the deployment may indicate that there are deficiencies in Israel's air defenses, but that the decision may also reflect growing concern in Washington about a major Israeli attack on Iran, something that could cause the conflict in the region to further escalate.

CNN's Brad Lendon writes that the Thaad system has the capacity to stop ballistic missiles at a distance of 150-200 kilometers with near-perfect capability. According to Lendon, Thaad would not only enhance Israel's "already impressive ability" to withstand rocket fire, but also act as a deterrent against future attacks.