US explains why it doesn't shoot down missiles over Ukraine as it does in Israel

The United States will not deploy the THAAD medium-range missile interceptor system near Ukraine to shoot down Russian missiles and drones, as it does for Israel, because the Russian-Ukrainian war and the war in the Middle East are different.

Deputy Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh stressed that the US Department of Defense and the US government continue to support Israel and Ukraine in meeting their defence needs.

At the same time, answering why the United States is deploying the THAAD system in Israel to protect against Iranian ballistic missiles but not in NATO countries to protect western Ukraine from Russian missile attacks, the US Defense Department spokesperson noted that these are two different situations.

"Okay, so different capabilities, different wars, different regions. The commitments also to Israel and Ukraine are different," Singh said.

On 1 October, Iran launched about 200 ballistic missiles towards Israel in response to the assassination of Tehran-backed militant leaders in Lebanon.

Afterwards, the White House said that Tehran would face serious consequences for a large-scale missile attack on Israel.

On 15 October, The Washington Post reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had told US President Joe Biden’s administration that he was ready to strike military facilities instead of oil or nuclear facilities in Iran.