Explained: How did Hamas infiltrate Israel’s Iron Dome? Know whopping cost of operating the system

Israel and Palestine are currently in a war-like situation as the Palestine-based terror group Hamas ended up infiltrating the neighbouring country through their multi-pronged air-water-land attack, surpassing the Iron Dome system of Israel.

Israel’s Iron Dome defence system is world-famous for being one of the most effective and efficient air defence systems and has a success rate of 96 per cent. Ever since it was established, there have been next to no air-based attacks on Israel before the Hamas infiltration.

However, Palestine-based Hamas ended up infiltrating the Iron Dome established by Israel in 2011. Hamas launched over 5000 rockets into Israel in a span of 20 minutes, a brutal air attack that Israel, world-class defence system was not able to combat.

How does Iron Dome work?

Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system, which became operational in 2011, has multiple truck-towed units which can launch radar-guided missiles to counter short-range threats including rockets, mortars and drones while they are mid-air.

However, the Iron Dome does not shoot down all the rockets entering Israel’s air space. The Artificial Intelligence of the Iron Dome determines how much damage the missile can cause, and shoots it down only if it is about to hit a populated area.

How did Hamas infiltrate the Iron Dome?

As per Reuters, it costs USD 50,000 to USD 100,000 to counter one missile through the Iron Dome system, while the rockets launched by Hamas into Israel just cost around USD 1,500 apiece. This shows how operating the Iron Dome is an ultra-expensive affair for Israel.

Hamas has been trying to overpower the Iron Dome defence system of Israel for several years and eventually ended up overloading the system by launching over 5,000 rockets simultaneously into the airspace of the neighbouring country.

Hamas launched a Salvo rocket attack (multiple rockets launched at the same time), making it difficult for Iron Dome to intercept all the targets at once. Further, Hamas rockets are much cheaper than the counterattack launched by Israel, making their attacks more brutal.

In 2014, Hamas had ended up launching 4500 rockets into Israel, out of which 800 were intercepted by the Iron Dome while 735 were shot down, proving a success rate of over 90 percent.

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