"Much more expensive than in Gaza." A month of war with Iran will cost Israel $12 billion – WSJ

The armed confrontation between Israel and Iran is costing the Israeli economy hundreds of millions of dollars every day, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing expert estimates.

The agency notes that this poses a challenge for the country as to how long such an expensive war can last.

The largest part of the cost is intercepting Iranian missiles. Experts estimate that this is about $200 million per day. Ammunition and aircraft also increase the cost of war.

In the past few days, Iran has launched over 400 missiles at Israel in an attempt to knock out what are needed sophisticated air defense systems.

For example, the David's Sling system, which can shoot down missiles, drones, and aircraft, costs about $700,000 when using two interceptors, which is usually the minimum number during a single launch.

Other systems, Arrow 2 and Arrow 3, which are used against ballistic missiles, cost $3–4 million per launch.

Israel also spends about $10,000 per hour of flight on a single military aircraft, such as the F-35.

"It's much more expensive per day than the war in Gaza or Hezbollah. And it all comes from ammunition. It's a big expense," said Zvi Eckstein, who heads the Aaron Institute for Economic Policy at Reichman University in Israel.

According to the institute's estimates, a one-month war with Iran would cost Israel about $12 billion.

Israeli engineers are already assessing the damage. The cost of restoring just one modern skyscraper in Tel Aviv could reach tens of millions of dollars. Overall, the damage to Israeli buildings is estimated at at least $400 million.

• On June 13, the Israel Defense Forces announced that it had carried out a "preemptive strike" on Iran’s nuclear program to prevent Tehran from acquiring weapons of mass destruction. On the same day, Trump called on Iran to sign a nuclear deal and said that new attacks would be more brutal.