The rocket explosion caused minor damage in Rahat in the south of the country
The IDF deliberately allowed the Syrian missile to pass most of the country before detonating in southern Israel after calculating from its trajectory that it did not need to be launched sooner, officials said Sunday. military sources.
According to this, there was thus no fault in the Israeli air defense systems and it is therefore not investigated why the missile was allowed to fly more than 180 km from the nearest border with Syria and more than 400 km from Homs, where it was fired.
The IDF’s Iron Dome (short-to-medium range), David’s Sling (medium-range), and Arrow 3 (long-range) anti-missile missiles have the ability to calculate a missile’s trajectory, in order not to use an interceptor for it if necessary to waste a projectile that should land in an unoccupied area.
These trajectory calculation capabilities were probably linked to the Syrian missile, which was considered harmless to the population, although the missile’s explosion still caused minor damage at Rahat due to the falling debris. It is currently unknown whether the mid-air explosion in the southern region was due to a projectile malfunction or to Israeli intervention.
The Syrian S-200 missile was launched on Saturday night after Israeli attacks on the city of Homs in central Syria. Subsequently, the Syrian anti-aircraft missile system launched and attempted to shoot down Israeli missiles and planes. The IDF responded to rocket fire on Israeli territory by attacking a Syrian air defense battery and other targets in the area.
The likely control of the situation by the Israeli army undoubtedly explains the fact that the Syrian missile launch did not trigger an alarm and did not entail any special orders from the Home Front Command.
Syrian state media reported Saturday night that Syrian air defenses in Homs governorate had been activated in response to suspected Israeli airstrikes in the region. The Syrian state news agency SANA reported that no one was injured in the attacks.
According to Syrian state-run news agency SANA, the Israeli attacks come two weeks after the latest reported IDF strikes in Syria, which seriously injured a Syrian soldier in Damascus.
It is not the first time that Syrian missiles have attacked Israeli territory. Similar incidents have occurred sporadically in recent years.