WarSclerotic

The Iron Dome intercepted an Iranian-made Fajr-5 missile aimed at Tel Aviv on Saturday. The missile marked the third attack on the heavily populated central city in as many days, after Palestinian terrorists from Gaza fired two missiles toward the financial capital Friday, prompting a red alert air raid siren to be sounded in the city.

The Defense Ministry deployed an upgraded Iron Dome battery in the Gush Dan area in the center of Israel on Saturday morning, after rushing rushing its production in light of escalation. The battery is the fifth Iron Dome system operational in Israel.

The attack followed volley after volley of rockets aimed at Southern towns on Saturday, as red alert sirens wailed repeatedly, warning residents to flee for cover. Two rockets also landed outside the capital Jerusalem on Friday, causing no injury or damage.

According to Israel Radio, over 60 rockets have fallen on the South on the fourth day of Operation Pillar of Defense. The Iron Dome rocket defense system intercepted 15 of the rockets.

In the afternoon alone, four rockets landed in Ashdod, lightly injuring five people and causing damage to a house. Houses were also damaged in Eshkol and Be’er Tuviya. Six rockets hit Beersheba, and four others in the vicinity were shot down.

In total, Palestinians fired 700 rockets toward the Jewish state since the beginning of Operation Pillar of Defense on Wednesday, but only around 30 landed in built-up areas. Iron Dome intercepted 230 projectiles in total, maintaining a 90% intercept rate. Four IDF soldiers were lightly injured by shrapnel from a rocket in the Eshkol area.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz instructed the military on Saturday afternoon to increase the rate of strikes on terrorist cells, among them rocket launching squads.

The Israel Air Force struck 200 targets in the Gaza Strip overnight Friday, including 120 rocket launchers and 20 tunnels, bringing the total number of targets throughout Operation Pillar of Defense to 830.

Palestinians sources also reported that Israeli operations in Gaza killed one more, bringing the death count in the Strip to 40.

Among the targets was Hamas leader Ismael Haniyeh’s headquarters in the northern Gaza Strip early Saturday morning, according to the IDF Spokesman’s Office.

Haniyeh was not at the headquarters during the IAF strike, Israel Radio reported. Other targets included the Hamas Interior Ministry and its police compound, as well as a training facility and rocket launching squads.

On Friday evening Defense Minister Ehud Barak received Cabinet approval for the IDF’s request to increase the maximum number of reservists it could enlist to 75,000 ahead of a possible Gaza ground operation.

Debate over an incursion into Gaza comes after four days of constant rocket-fire from the Strip, which has reached as far as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem for the first time, and targeted Israeli strikes against terrorist leaders and weapons depots in Gaza.

Politicians outside the government on Saturday demanded an exit strategy ahead of a possible ground operation.