Israeli Iron Dome Failed to Intercept All Missiles Due To Close Firing Range: Military Expert

The Iron Dome defence system failed to intercept all the missiles launched from Gaza on May 4 due to a number of reasons, including that of the missiles being launched from close range, according to Yaakov Amidror, former head of Military Intelligence's Research Department.

"One of the key problems was that some of the rockets were launched from very close range, giving the Iron Dome next to no time to react and intercept them," The Jerusalem Post reported quoting Amidror as saying Tuesday.

Apart from the time and range, the peculiarities of the Iron Dome's design make it ignore the projectiles aimed at areas deemed empty or uninhabited by the system, he added. This was the case with a car, which was destroyed in the Yad Mordechai community near the Gaza border.

"From the point of view of the system, this was an open area without people. We don't intercept such rockets," the military expert explained.

In response to the attack, the IDF conducted strikes on Hamas and Islamic Jihad infrastructure in Gaza, hitting 350 targets over the course of 48 hours. The Israeli military reported destroying Hamas' headquarters for planning operations, weapon manufacturing factories, ammo depots, and rocket launch sites.