[ad_1]
When Israel launches airstrikes and artillery bombardment on Gaza, the Palestinians have few sources of protection. But when Palestinians launch rockets into the Jewish state, their citizens can join one of the world’s most tried and tested air defense systems: the Iron Dome.
Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls the Gaza Strip, has launched nearly 1,800 rockets at Israel since Monday, targeting major cities such as Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, as well as other cities.
The Islamist movement has maintained its reservoir even as Israeli fighter jets, artillery and tanks have done. hit the impoverished Palestinian territory of 2 million people. At least 122 people have been killed since Monday in Gaza, including 31 children and 20 women and 900 more injured, Palestinian medical officials said.
But according to the Israeli military, approximately 90% of Palestinian rockets have been withdrawn by Iron Dome, a system built by Israeli defense companies and funded and developed jointly with the US. Palestinian rockets have killed nine Israelis, including a child, while a woman was killed while running to a shelter and a soldier was killed by tank fire.
“The number of Israelis killed and wounded would have been much higher had it not been for the Iron Dome system, which has saved lives as always,” said Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a spokesman for the Israeli army.
The Iron Dome was specifically designed to treat it the most rudimentary and short-range missiles fired on Israel by Palestinian factions and was first used 10 years ago to intercept projectiles fired by Hamas from Gaza. Its development accelerated after the Israeli war in 2006 with Hezbollah, the Lebanese movement backed by Iran, and its conflict with Hamas three years later.
Justin Bronk, a researcher at the Royal United Services for Defense and Security Studies, said much of Iron Dome’s success was due to a sophisticated radar system that allows it to quickly determine which incoming rockets can attack built-up areas and which it will land harmlessly in open ground.
Iron Dome has 10 batteries deployed across the country, each with three or four launchers that can fire 20 interceptors, giving the system the ability to launch up to 800 missiles against incoming rockets, not counting reloads.
Because it is designed to fight smaller, slower-moving rockets, the missiles it uses are relatively small and inexpensive compared to those used in other air defenses, such as the U.S. Patriot system, with interceptors that they cost between $ 40,000 and $ 100,000, Bronk said.
The Obama administration increased U.S. funding for the Iron Dome, in part, to show support for Israel. But he also hoped it would help prevent conflicts from escalating.
“It was a deliberate calculation by the Obama administration to fund it [general] U.S. military aid instead of the U.S. alone, for about $ 1.5 billion, ”Bronk said. He added that one condition was that Americans could use interception data for their own research and development purposes.
Ulrike Franke, a political member of the European Foreign Relations Council, said this week’s events underscored the “political importance” of Iron Dome that made it possible for Israelis to “continue a somewhat normal life while under attack.”
“It gives the government room for maneuver: if the Hamas attacks killed hundreds of Israeli civilians, the Israeli government would be heavily pushed to intervene with a ground operation,” he said. “With the protection of Iron Dome, the government has more freedom of maneuver. However, it also gives the government the freedom not to try to find a peaceful solution, as it can withstand attacks for at least some time. “
But the magnitude of the salvos fired this week by Hamas has still stunned Israelis and attacked terror in neighborhoods where rockets have breached defenses.
“I know I’m not supposed to be scared, but you hear the sirens and you’re scared, what if you’re the most unfortunate man in the country right now?” said Tomer, crawling into Jaffa’s garage with his young son. Minutes later, an Iron Dome interceptor pulled a rocket overhead, leaving traces of smoke in the sky.
The Israeli army was also surprised that Hamas was willing to launch such a campaign against the best-equipped and sophisticated military force in the Middle East and risk the consequences.
There is a risk that a sustained rain of hundreds of rockets could overwhelm the system. Hezbollah has a larger and much more sophisticated rocket stock than Palestinian militants.
“Hezbollah has an arsenal of more than 100,000 rockets and is much better equipped to fire volleys sustained in large numbers,” Bronk said. “Many of its rockets are now also equipped with Iranian guidance devices, so they are more accurate, which also increases the number of those the Iron Dome should intercept.”
But he added that Iron Dome was never intended to be “a total defense.”
“In many ways, it psychologically changes the game more than the overall balance of forces in any large-scale clash,” Bronk said.
Additional reports from Mehul Srivastava in Tel Aviv
[ad_2]
Source link
