Israeli Panic: GPS Disruption and Beirut Coordinates

A report by Ali al-Hajj, English adaptation by Nadine Sassine

Can Israeli Residents Wake Up to Find Themselves in Beirut?

 

According to Israeli Channel 12, this is what happened today when most residents of central Israel woke up to find themselves through Google Maps and the Waze application in Beirut.

Israeli citizens also reported that the Gett taxi and Wolt food delivery apps stopped working or experienced delays in delivery times. 

 

Passengers also reported issues with paying for train trips using the Moovit app, as it did not accurately select locations. Additionally, there were reports of phones randomly turning on and off.

These technological disruptions or jamming within Israel are intentional and aimed at protecting Israel from any Iranian retaliation for targeting its consulate in Damascus. The goal is to disrupt any Iranian attempts to launch precision weapons such as cruise missiles or drones that rely on the Global Positioning System (GPS).

These disruptions in Israel have raised concerns because if Israel disrupts the GPS and instead of providing the correct location within Israel, it gives the location as Beirut, could Iran decide to launch a missile strike that would hit Lebanon instead of Israel?

A military expert told LBCI that there are two types of long-range missiles being used today:

The first type carries a magic eye and a transmitter, which is not a threat because it can be remotely controlled and directed towards the target.

The second type relies on GPS, which poses a threat because its trajectory can be altered.

According to the same expert, jamming becomes difficult unless any country, including Iran, adopts a non-GPS tracking system, i.e., a system linked to Russian satellites.