2024-08-04 23:41:46
The use of GPS services in much of Israel has been suspended due to fears of an imminent Iranian attack on the country’s territory, DPA reported, citing the Times of Israel newspaper and the Ynet news site.
The outages have affected not only the border areas near Lebanon, but also the densely populated areas in the center of the country.
In addition to providing users with directions, the GPS positioning system is also used by drones to identify their targets, BTA writes.
Israel is on high alert after Iran threatened to retaliate over the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, in Tehran. The Islamic Republic blames Israeli forces for the attack, but Israel has yet to officially comment on allegations of responsibility for the attack.
According to media reports, drivers in Israel suddenly discovered that the coordinates they entered into their mobile devices began to show that they were in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
Even before Iran’s major attack in April, involving hundreds of missiles and drones, the Israeli military said it had deliberately disrupted the operation of the satellite positioning system. The Israeli military declined to comment on today’s disruption of GPS services.
Another indication of the potential upcoming attack by Iran and its allied militias in other countries of the Middle East is the arrival of the commander of the US Central Command, General Michael Eric Kurilla, as reported by the American information portal “Axios”.
General Kurila visited Israel shortly before Iran’s major offensive in April.