Following the latest Israeli aggression on Gaza, military figures in the Zionist entity raised questions about the strength of the occupation regime’s missile defenses, including the Iron Dome.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad Palestinian resistance movement fired nearly 700 rockets in the latest escalation.
According to Haaretz Israeli daily, of the 690 rockets launched from Gaza, Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted 240. However, the occupation military claimed it had managed to knock down 86 percent of the rockets and that only 35 projectiles landed in populated areas.
The two Palestinian resistance movements were quick to declare that it had achieved victory, overwhelming Israeli defenses with concentrated barrages of projectiles.
Meanwhile, The Jerusalem Post said: “The number of unintercepted rockets and Israeli fatalities sparked inquiry about the effectiveness of Iron Dome, and whether Hamas and Islamic Jihad have found a way to thwart the system.”
The daily reported that the number of Israelis killed in the two-day conflict was only one fewer than during 2014’s war, a struggle of nearly two months, when Palestinian factions lobbed more than 4,500 projectiles at Israeli cities.
Speaking with The Jerusalem Post, Maj. Gen. Yaakov Amidror, a former national security adviser and retired head of the Military Intelligence’s Research Department, said Iron Dome had gaps in its coverage, especially when it came to short-range rockets landing within a few kilometers of the border.
“We don’t have enough time to intercept it,” he said.
Amidor also said that in the case of a car hit by an anti-tank missile near the so-called settlement of Kibbutz Yad Mordechai on Sunday, killing its Israeli driver, Iron Dome wouldn’t have helped.
“From the point of view of the system, this was an open area without people. We don’t intercept such rockets,” he said.
Meanwhile, s former deputy military intelligence chief, Brig. Gen. Meir Elran, said that while “Iron Dome has proven to be an effective means of saving lives, which also improves the flexibility of decision makers in Israel.”
“It is clear that the system as currently constituted cannot provide Israel with sufficient protection in the event of a wider conflict,” Elran added, according to JPost.
Source: Israeli media
