IDF Shoots Down Hamas Propaganda Against Iron Dome

Hamas declared unprecedented success against Israel’s Iron Dome defense system in the latest round of fighting, a claim rejected as false by the IDF on Tuesday.

Hamas’s Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades spokesman, Abu Obeida, said in a social media post that “they succeeded in overcoming the so-called Iron Dome by adopting the tactic of firing dozens of missiles in one single burst.”

While it is true that Hamas employed a new tactic of multiple launchings at single points, the number of rockets that penetrated to defensive shield was very few, according to the Israeli military.

During 41 hours of fighting, Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired some 690 projectiles at Israel the largest-ever in a two-day period, resulting in four Israelis killed and over 100 wounded

In perhaps the most intense of the barrages, in a single hour on Sunday evening, at least 117 rockets were fired at the city of Ashdod. But only one made it past the Iron Dome—the one that took the life of Pinchas Menachem Prezuazman Hy”d, 21, an avreich who was struck down as ran for shelter when the alert siren sounded.

The effectiveness of the Iron Dome system was rated very high, with 240 interception, 86 percent of the Gaza projectiles which were headed for populated areas. The rest fell mostly in open fields, causing no injury or damage to property.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad also said it used a new longer range rocket with a 250-kilogram warhead, known as the Badr 3, in its attacks on Ashkelon. But this too was stopped by the IDF.

Maj. Tom Scott, one of the commanders of an Iron Dome battery in southern Israel, told The Times of Israel that the system is capable of intercepting “many different threats,” including “large barrages or short-range rockets or rockets fired at high altitude or at low altitude.”

“We try to stay ahead of them even as they are trying to get ahead of us,” he said.

Caption

Aharon Krohn/Flash90

An Iron Dome anti-missile battery stationed near the border with Gaza, Monday.