Newsdeck

Newsdeck

Israel to deploy rocket interceptor at Egypt border

Israel to deploy rocket interceptor at Egypt border

Israel said on Wednesday it would deploy a battery of Iron Dome rocket interceptors at a southern frontier town opposite Egypt, a move that follows cross-border attacks in the area.

Israeli media reported that it was the first time the interceptors, which have been used against Palestinian rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip, were being set up at Eilat, near Israel’s borders with Egypt and Jordan.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said the battery “will be placed near Eilat as part of an operational deployment programme which includes changing the locations of the batteries from time to time.”

An official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the interceptors were set up near Eilat on Monday.

Iron Dome, a system produced locally with U.S. funding, uses radar-guided missiles to blow up Katyusha-style rockets with ranges of 5-70 km (3-45 miles) and mortar bombs in mid-air.

Israel’s border with Egypt has grown tense since a popular uprising ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak last year. Two rockets fired across the frontier have struck in the Eilat area this year, without causing casualties. Egypt has denied they were shot from its territory.

Last month an unidentified gunman crossed Egypt’s Sinai border and killed an Israeli worker. Eight Israelis died in another cross-border attack in that area in August.

Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace accord with Israel, in 1979, followed by Jordan in 1994.

Concerns have arisen about how the peace will fare under Egypt’s new president, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Mursi, although he pledged when he took office last month to uphold his country’s treaties. DM

Photo: An Iron Dome launcher fires an interceptor rocket near the southern city of Ashdod March 11, 2012. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

Gallery

Please peer review 3 community comments before your comment can be posted

We would like our readers to start paying for Daily Maverick...

…but we are not going to force you to. Over 10 million users come to us each month for the news. We have not put it behind a paywall because the truth should not be a luxury.

Instead we ask our readers who can afford to contribute, even a small amount each month, to do so.

If you appreciate it and want to see us keep going then please consider contributing whatever you can.

Support Daily Maverick→
Payment options

Become a Maverick Insider

This could have been a paywall

On another site this would have been a paywall. Maverick Insider keeps our content free for all.

Become an Insider

Every seed of hope will one day sprout.

South African citizens throughout the country are standing up for our human rights. Stay informed, connected and inspired by our weekly FREE Maverick Citizen newsletter.