According to officials speaking with the New York Times, Israel is beginning to ration its air defense systems to military sites and densely populated areas as supplies are becoming strained. The US is aiding Israel in downing Iranian missiles.

“Already, Israel’s military has had to conserve its use of interceptors and is giving greater priority to the defense of densely populated areas and strategic infrastructure, according to the officials,” the Times reports.

The outlet spoke with a former Israeli intelligence officer who said the country’s air defenses were not intended to be stretched so thin. Zohar Palti, a former senior officer in the Mossad, explained, “When planning how to defend Israel in future wars, no one envisaged a scenario in which we would be fighting on so many fronts and defending against so many rounds of ballistic missiles.”

Tel Aviv has a three-layer missile defense system that includes the Arrow, David’s Sling, and the Iron Dome. Additionally, Israel uses fighter jets and a laser system to down incoming munitions. The US has also deployed THAAD and Patriot batteries to Israel to defend the country against its war of aggression against Iran, as well as air defense systems aboard at least one US naval vessel stationed in the Eastern Mediterranean.

So far, Tel Aviv claims only 10 percent – 40 out of 400 – of Iranian missiles have reached their targets. Israeli officials estimate that Tehran has used between one-third and one-half of its stockpiles in the multiple missile barrages fired at Israel in response to Tel Aviv’s bombing campaign.

However, the number of remaining Iranian missiles and Israeli interceptors are closely guarded secrets.

On Wednesday, multiple outlets reported that Israel was running out of Arrow and Iron Dome interceptors.

Palti argued that Tel Aviv’s limited supply of interceptors is cause for Israel to bring the war to a close. “Now that Israel has succeeded in striking most of its nuclear targets in Iran, Israel has a window of two or three days to declare the victory and end the war,” he said.