Israel under threat as Hamas, Hezbollah possess over one lakh rockets

TEL AVIV: Rocket attacks by Hamas and terror outfit Hezbollah from Gaza and Lebanon may not cause deaths but it continues to haunt and terrorise Israeli citizens. Every time a rocket is launched sirens start blowing across Israel and people start rushing towards bomb shelters or safe houses.

Israel has effectively managed to develop Iron Dome batteries to intercept and bring down rockets directed toward the country. Iron Dome batteries which Israel jointly developed with US congressional funding have a success rate of 90 per cent and they can intercept and bring down low, mid and long-range rockets, ballistic missiles, drones, UAVs and even planes. However Israeli defence forces are still concerned about rocket attacks, according to an estimate there are 30,000 rockets in Gaza with Hamas and more than 1,30,000 in Lebanon with Hezbollah which Israel claims enjoys the backing of Iran.

There is a fear that in case of all-out war with Israel both Hamas and Hezbollah can sustain 4,000 rocket attacks a day and Israel is not equipped to handle such combined attacks.

Speaking to ANI, former international spokesperson of IDF Yonaton Konikos said: “Rockets are a significant threat to state of Israel, today is not just about southern part, majority of the Jewish population is under rocket threat from Gaza and that is without speaking about bigger threat from Lebanon, Hezbollah which has hundred and thirty thousand rockets as opposed to thirty thousand rockets here, thirty thousand in Gaza and hundred and thirty thousand in Lebanon and all the scenario Israel anticipate is that if there is significant escalation Hamas and Hezbollah even though one is Sunni other is Shia they will coordinate the effort and they will fire simultaneously and hundred and thirty thousand from north and thirty thousand from south all of Israel, all population is under rocket threat, unlike many other countries whose military is under threat, for us it is about our families under threat from terrorist organisations.”

“Overall success of Iron Dome is 90 per cent which is phenomenal and the biggest shortcoming of the Israeli defence are issue of quantity when hundred and thirty thousand rockets from north and thirty thousand from south you put them together and you will know we need large number of Iron Dome batteries and large number of interceptors, without going into the numbers I can say Israel don’t have enough iron dome batteries if there is all-out war,” adds Yonaton Konikos who served in IDF for 24 years as a combat commander in Lebanon and Gaza. Towns near Gaza border bore the maximum brunt of rocket attacks, ANI visited a town very close to Gaza called Netiv Hasara.

Speaking to us, a resident displays a rocket and told us that this is one of the first rockets fired from Gaza towards Israel, she said first rocket fell in her farm and we were laughing, media covered the attack first day, then again second and third-day rockets continue to fall and we understood that our lives are going to change forever, she added.

She said when alarm sounds we have just five seconds to reach a shelter, we can’t even waste half a second in thinking , so we have to be always ready and alert. While visiting Netiv Hasara, ANI can see bomb shelters along most of the bus stops and public places.

-ANI