In response to a barrage of Iranian missiles and drones aimed at Israel on Saturday, the United States and a handful of allies around the world stepped in to help shoot the aerial weapons out of the sky before they reached their intended targets.
According to reports, Jordan was among the nations that assisted in the defensive effort, making it an anomaly among Arab countries. Despite Jordan’s history of criticizing the Israeli response to a Hamas terrorist attack in October, sources say it joined forces with the U.S., Britain and France to take aim at the 170 drones, 120 ballistic missiles and 30 cruise missiles believed to have been launched from locations across the Middle East, including Iran, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
Jordan’s inclusion in this alliance drew widespread backlash from Arab — specifically Palestinian — communities worldwide. Kima Khatib, the managing director of Al Jazeera’s digital news organization, complained: “Friendly countries are responding, not to the attack of Israel planes, drones and missiles on Palestine, but to an attack on Israel. There are Arab citizens who pull the trigger to protect Israel and watch when the Palestinians are bombed.”
The overwhelming majority of those drones and missiles were intercepted, though a few ballistic missiles did reach Israel, resulting in at least one serious injury.
NEW: Israel releases footage of them, with help from the US, UK and Jordan, intercepting 99% of all drones & missiles launched at them during last night’s attack.
According to U.S. officials, the U.S. intercepted 70 drones and three ballistic missiles.
In total, about 170… pic.twitter.com/dQhr10vXkM
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 14, 2024
Reports indicate President Joe Biden has been in communication with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an effort to convince him not to launch an attack in response to the Iranian bombardment.
“You got a win,” the president reportedly told Netanyahu. “Take the win.”
Although the White House has indicated that it would not endorse a counterattack or take on Iran directly, Biden claimed that his administration’s support for Israel remained “ironclad.”
In a public statement regarding the conversation, Biden said: “I told Prime Minister Netanyahu that Israel demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks — sending a clear message to its foes that they cannot effectively threaten the security of Israel.”
A U.S. military official issued a separate statement echoing the restrained approach endorsed by the Biden administration.
“The U.S. will not strike, but it will defend its allies,” the source said. “If things are in the air we will shoot them down.”
