IDF reportedly boosts Iron Dome deployment in Gaza vicinity

The IDF has boosted deployment of Iron Dome missile defense batteries around the Gaza Strip, according to a report Thursday night.

The Haaretz newspaper said the decision was made following a security assessment by the army’s Southern Command.

Also Thursday the Defense Ministry said Israel’s missile defense systems, including Iron Dome, had successfully completed a series of tests designed to “counter emerging threats in the region.”

Following a barrage of mortar fire from Gaza last month, the IDF revealed that the Iron Dome system’s capabilities had expanded from being able to hit short-range rockets to the ability to bring down projectiles as small as medium-sized mortar shells.

Recent months have seen an uptick in violence at the Gaza border, with weekly violent Palestinian protests, ongoing rocket attacks and the new phenomenon of incendiary kites and balloons flown over the border to sprak fires in Israel.