The Israel Air
Force’s Iron Dome counter rocket defense system
intercepted 27 rockets fired from the Gaza Strip
over the weekend, raising the interception rate
from 75 percent last year to over 90%.
Israel currently
has three Iron Dome batteries in operation – in
Ashkelon, Ashdod and Beersheba - and plans to
deploy the fourth in the coming months. Its plan
is to deploy a total of nine batteries by
mid-2013.
The battery in
Ashdod intercepted 11 rockets out of 13 fired
into the city; the battery in Ashkelon
intercepted one rocket and purposely did not
intercept four others since they were heading
to open fields; and the battery in Beersheba
intercepted 15 and allowed two others to land
in open fields