Israel's air force achieved a "remarkable feat," said William Freer, a research fellow for national security at the U.K.-based Council on Geostrategy.

The conflict between Israel and Iran has forced many countries in the Middle East to close their airspace, as Israeli jets and Iranian exploding drones and missiles fly over their night skies.

But Israel's formidable and sophisticated military forces - with an arsenal largely, but not exclusively, provided by the United States - are enabling it to overpower a much larger enemy. The BBC looks at the military balance in the latest war in the Middle East.

The initial round of Israeli attacks sent oil prices 7 percent higher on Friday. Still, at about $74 a barrel, Brent crude remains below the $80 average for 2024, the Deutsche Bank analysts wrote. The market continued to waver, though, and by Monday, oil prices had fallen about 3 percent.

Iran fired a new wave of missile attacks on Israel early Monday, triggering air raid sirens across the country as emergency services reported at least five killed and dozens more wounded in the fourth day of a conflict between the regional foes that showed no sign of slowing.

As the Iran-Israel conflict intensifies, the U.S. deploys the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier along with support tankers to bolster military readiness.

The missile exchanges dominate global market focus as it intensified fears of energy supply disruptions. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed as high as $74.78 per barrel Sunday evening, but eased back to below $72.54 per barrel this morning, though that remains 11% above where it traded last Monday.

The Iranian regime faces pressure as Israel strikes military targets, with Iranian Americans advocating for the overthrow of what one Iranian American describes as a "paper tiger regime."