The Telegraph:

By Paul Nuki, Ben Butcher, Afshin Madadi

Iranian missiles appear to have directly hit five Israeli military facilities during the recent 12-day war, according to radar data seen by The Telegraph.

The strikes have not been made public by the Israeli authorities and cannot be reported from within the country because of strict military censorship laws.

They will further complicate the battle of words between the enemies, with both sides attempting to claim absolute victory.

The new data were shared with The Telegraph by US academics at Oregon State University, who specialise in using satellite radar data to detect bomb damage in war zones.

It suggests five previously unreported military facilities were hit by six Iranian missiles in the north, south and centre of Israel, including a major air base, an intelligence gathering centre and a logistics base.

Approached by The Telegraph on Friday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it would not comment on missile interception rates or damage to its bases.

“What we can say is that all relevant units maintained functional continuity throughout the operation,” said a spokesman.

The strikes on the military facilities are in addition to 36 others known to have pierced Israeli air-defence systems, causing significant damage to residential and industrial infrastructure.

Despite the considerable damage to residential property across the country, only 28 Israelis died – a testament to the country’s sophisticated alert system and the disciplined use of bomb shelters and safe rooms by the population.

Analysis by The Telegraph suggests that while the vast majority of Iranian missiles were intercepted, the proportion that got through grew steadily in the first eight days of the 12-day war.

The reasons for this, say experts, are not clear but may include the rationing of a limited stock of interceptor missiles on the Israeli side and improved firing tactics and the possible use of more sophisticated missiles by Iran.

Although the Iron Dome is Israel’s best-known air-defence system, it is actually designed to protect against short-range projectiles such as mortars and is only one part of the “layered” air-defence system the country uses.

In the middle tier stands the David’s Sling air-defence system, which is optimised for intercepting drones and missiles with ranges up to 300km. At the top is the Arrow system, which engages long-range ballistic missiles before they re-enter the atmosphere.

Importantly, the Israeli systems were backed up throughout the 12-day war by two US ground-based THAAD missile-defence systems and ship-based interceptors launched from US assets in the Red Sea.

The US is estimated to have launched at least 36 THAAD interceptors during the war at a cost of some $12 million a time.

In Israel, a densely packed small country of just 9.7 million people, the piercing of the country’s famed missile-defence systems has come as a shock, with the authorities having to issue notices warning that they were “not hermetic”.

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