WASHINGTON — A former senior U.S. military intelligence officer suggests that Israel likely received early warnings about Tuesday’s missile attack due to the continuous monitoring of Iran’s missile unit movements by U.S. and Israeli intelligence services.

Mark Quantock, a retired Army major general in charge of intelligence for U.S. Central Command, stated that the response of both Israel and the Pentagon to the numerous missiles aimed at cities like Tel Aviv and Jerusalem will rely significantly on how many are intercepted by Israeli and U.S. air defense systems.

He explained that in order to launch ballistic missiles, Iran needed to notify and move personnel to the launch sites, actions that are detectable via satellites. It is also possible that communications regarding these movements were intercepted.

Such findings might have prompted Tuesday’s warning from the White House about a forthcoming attack.

According to Quantock, once this type of activity is detected, missile launches can occur quickly, as witnessed on Tuesday.

A high-ranking official from the White House has promised “severe consequences” for any attack.

Should missiles breach Israeli air defenses and cause significant casualties or destruction, the U.S. might find itself directly engaged in conflict with Iran, Quantock warned.

“However, if Iran fails to hit its targets like last time — when Israel intercepted most of the incoming Iranian missiles — then the U.S. response would probably be much more restrained and less aggressive,” he remarked.

The Pentagon is preparing to present President Joe Biden with various military options.

“It will be up to him to decide what actions to take,” Quantock added.