With news breaking out this morning that militants in Israel and Hamas have reached a long-term truce in their conflict, footage of Israel's defense system intercepting 15 rockets was uploaded to YouTube by a pro-Israel group.
The antimissile shield, nicknamed "The Iron Dome," has been used by Israel since 2011. It's designed to knock down short range rockets and artillery shells from the air from distances of 2.5 to 43 miles. The video shows 15 Qassam rockets emerge from the horizon—sirens ring out, people run toward a bomb shelter for cover, others stay outside to watch. The mood is surprisingly relaxed despite the destructive weapons that are heading their way. One woman even texts on her phone. The path of the rockets abruptly halt midair as the Iron Dome goes to work, intercepting them before they reach their targets.
Close to 2,700 rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel, with many landing in empty fields—but almost all of the 600 rockets that were headed toward populated towns were stopped by the Iron Dome. Israel Defense Forces say it has nearly a 90 percent success rate. Since the start of the campaign in early July, close to 2,200 have died in Gaza due to Israeli strikes.
