Israel's Iron Dome system is not a "magic" wand and cannot neutralize every rocket that is fired in the country, an international relations expert has said.
The remarks of Tel Aviv-based geopolitics commentator Dr. Simon Tsipis, come in the wake of Hamas' rocket storm in which the militant group fired 5,000 missiles into Israel, leaving the widely acclaimed "ground-to-air short-range air defense system" ineffective.
Specifications of Iron Dome System
The Iron Dome system, equipped with at least 20 Tamir missiles, was considered impenetrable until Hamas sent a barrage of rockets into Israel on Saturday.
The air defense system, having a range of 70 km, features radar that detects and tracks enemy drones, mortars, rockets, and artillery shells.
Besides it has a Weapons Control system and a Missile Launcher that uses the Israeli-manufactured Tamir missiles to neutralize attacks from the adversary.
The Iron Dome system was inducted into service in 2011 after Israel began developing its indigenous short-range air defense system following a bloody conflict with Hezbollah in 2006.
How Hamas Made Iron Dome Ineffective?
However, this time around, the sheer scale of Hamas' attack on Israel seemed to have successfully tamed the Jewish state's Iron Dome system, something even Tsipis agreed on.
"2,000 missiles were fired in just one day. They used to fire 2,000 missiles per month, but today they managed to fire 2,000 missiles in the morning. The Iron Dome system is not capable of intercepting everything," the Israeli researcher told Sputnik India.
He underlined that this is not a magic system and the number of batteries that are on military duty is limited. Therefore, they miss and hit homes and institutions with missiles.
Israeli Intelligence Caught Unawares
Tsipis pointed out that the Hamas attack caught Israel by surprise before stressing that it was a major intelligence failure.
"The domestic intelligence service that deals with Hamas is called Shin Bet, which was formerly called Shin Bet. For the Shin Bet, this is probably one of the biggest failures in the history of this intelligence service, since it was they who controlled internal security, and it was they who had all the necessary intelligence resources both among Hamas and in the Gaza Strip, and no one could get reliable information," he added.
On being asked about some media reports suggesting that Israel was attacked by Igla MANPADS, and whether these weapons landed in the hands of Hamas militants from Ukraine, Tsipis acknowledged that indeed that was the case.
Hamas Militants Using Ukrainian Weapons
He noted that after the collapse of the USSR, Ukraine on several occasions came out on top in illegal arms trade and arms smuggling. The Ukrainian side sold off all its military reserves dating back to Soviet times, which fell into the hands of organized crime.
"Several of the most prominent arms dealers are Ukrainian citizens. A trail is coming from Ukraine. In the 1990s and 2000s, Ukraine was one of the leading states that sold weapons to everyone. Mostly weapons went to countries of Asia, Africa, Central Asia, North Africa and the Middle East," Tsipis underlined.
He emphasized that a very large part of Ukrainian weapons from Ukrainian warehouses ended up in the hands of Arab countries.
For example, Ukraine traded arms with Libya, Lebanon, and Syria. And these are all the states that border Israel.
"Further through smuggling, Soviet weapons, and now Russian ones, apparently continue to fall into the hands of Hamas. Yes, Hamas has many types of weapons. These are mainly MANPADS, not to mention Soviet-made RPG missiles and Soviet modifications. They have a needle, which is in small quantities, but still there," he concluded.