The tense relationship between Israel and Iran is reaching a boiling point, with Iran vowing to respond to a strike on its consulate building in Syria, which Israel is widely believed to have carried out. The attack resulted in the death of 13 individuals, including a senior general. In response, Israel is taking measures to disrupt missiles and drones, which include blocking GPS signals across multiple regions of the country. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have also stopped all leave for soldiers serving with combat units and called up reservists to increase air defence units.
Israel believes that an Iranian response is imminent, possibly on Quds Day, the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. As a defensive measure, GPS systems are being disrupted in central parts of Israel to interfere with weapons that rely on it to set their location. This has caused citizens to report large-scale disruptions to location-based app services in major cities such as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, which are far away from active combat zones. The GPSJAM monitoring website has reported widespread interference with location signals throughout Israel.
Northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, already has disrupted GPS, where Israel and the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah have had daily exchanges of gunfire for six months. Israelis have been urged to manually set their location on the app that issues alerts about incoming rocket attacks to ensure it stays accurate amidst the GPS interference. The IDF spokesperson confirmed the use of GPS blocking, sometimes referred to as “spoofing.”
Media outlets in Israel have reported that some of the country’s embassies have been evacuated or placed on alert over potential Iranian attacks. However, Israel has not confirmed these reports. Israel has not commented on the targeting of a building on Iran’s diplomatic compound in Damascus, the capital of Syria. Still, its leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has blamed Israel for the attack. Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has declared that the strike would “not go unanswered,” although it is unclear what actions Iran could take in response.
The strike killed seven officers in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, including senior general Mohammad Reza Zahedi and his deputy, making Zahedi one of the most high-profile Iranian figures thought to have been killed by Israel in the country’s long campaign of targeted assassinations. Israel has previously carried out strikes in Syria on targets it says are linked to Iran or its allied armed groups.
Speaking at a security cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is “acting against Iran and its proxies, defensively and offensively.” He also stressed that Israel would know how to defend itself, and whoever harms them or plans to harm them will harm them.
Meanwhile, Israel is under international pressure for the killing of seven aid workers in Gaza on Monday. Aid groups have stopped deliveries into northern Gaza over fears for their staff’s safety, and US President Joe Biden has urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to an immediate ceasefire. Mr Biden has also called for Israel to “announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers,” warning that “US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps.”
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