Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, says it’s clear Israel’s vaunted missile defence systems are showing cracks as the casualty toll from Iranian attacks continues to rise.

“What appears to have happened is the Iranians have degraded the Israeli air defence systems, and as a result, with a fewer number of missiles, they’re actually getting more missiles through,” Parsi told Al Jazeera.

He said video evidence shows “the inefficiency” of the David’s Sling, Arrow, Iron Dome, and even the US defence systems, THAAD.

“By and large, the Israelis clearly miscalculated. They thought this was going to be easy — the same as bombing refugees in tents [in Gaza] as they’ve done for a year-and-a-half now. Instead, they’re getting a real fight back. And the question is to what extent that’s changed the Israeli government’s calculations?”

Parsi noted the only move Israel has made so far is to ask the US to enter the war, “but we’ve not seen any other indications of them trying to make an exit”.