Officer: Israel’s Iron Dome would be unable to intercept Hezbollah missiles

Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile defense system would be unable to intercept many of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah’s precision rockets in any future war, an officer in the Israeli army has claimed.

In a report broadcast on Israeli television, Col. Dan Goldfus said that Israelis needed to know that a war with Hezbollah would be different than the recent conflict Israel waged on Gaza, the Daily Star reported.

“We will need to move quickly and flexibly,” he said, warning that the next military engagement with the group would be “very violent.”

The report said that Israel estimated that Hezbollah had about 100,000 missiles, with several long-range rockets in Beirut capable of carrying large warheads.

Meanwhile on Friday, a member of Lebanon’s Hezbollah was killed when an Israeli listening device exploded in the south of the country, the Shiite militant group said on Saturday.

On Friday, the army said that a “suspicious device” had been found near the town of Adlun, and that “the Israeli enemy blew it up remotely, killing a civilian who was in the area”.

Hezbollah confirmed that the man killed was in fact one of its own.

“With pride, the Islamic Resistance announces the death of the hero Hassan Haidar Ali, a native of the town of Ansariyeh in southern Lebanon,” the group said in a statement.