Israel Gets Iron Dome Missile System Amid Syria Tension

Israel deployed its Iron Dome missile defence system in Tel Aviv today amid Syria strike fears, Israeli local media said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday said Israel had deployed its Iron Dome system to meet its current security needs.

He did not specify where, but local media reported earlier in the week that the military was moving two of its short-range Iron Dome batteries and one battery of the mid-range Patriot missile to northern Israel.

"We have decided to deploy Iron Dome and other interceptors," Netanyahu said yesterday night in a statement as he went into security talks at the defence ministry in Tel Aviv.

"We are not involved in the war in Syria. But I repeat: if anyone tries to harm Israeli citizens, the Israeli army will respond with force," Netanyahu said in other remarks broadcast by Israeli television.

There are fears that if the United States and its allies launch military strikes on Syria, forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad or its Lebanese Hezbollah proxies could retaliate against next-door Israel, Washington's key ally in the region.