U.S. Army 'Giving Its Only Two Iron Dome Batteries to Israel'

The Pentagon is reportedly planning to send its only two full Iron Dome air defense systems to Israel -- which the U.S. Army originally purchased from that country -- to bolster Israeli air defense amid the ongoing conflict with Hamas.

Multiple news outlets reported this possibility yesterday, citing anonymous U.S. and Israeli officials, and a U.S. congressional aid. According to Reuters, officials from the Department of Defense informed members of Congress on Wednesday that it planned to lease the two Iron Dome systems back to Israel. Citing an unnamed congressional aid, the outlet further indicates that said transfer could come within a matter of days. At present, Israel has at least 10 Iron Dome batteries in operation.

[...] Although it has not been reported where the U.S. Iron Dome systems would come from, it is assumed these are the two owned by the U.S. Army. Earlier this month, members of the U.S. Senate sent an open letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin calling for the service's pair of Iron Dome systems to be sent to Israel, and noted "that [they] have not been deployed and have no operational use inside the United States where they are currently stored."