Palestinians in the West Bank came under rocket fire from Hamas in Gaza over the weekend. Rockets landed in or next to Hebron, Bethlehem and Ramallah. The Palestinian Bureau of Statistics puts those cities’ populations at 202,000, 30,000 and 34,000 respectively.

“The notion that Palestinian militants in Gaza might fire on Palestinian authorities in Ramallah is certainly a new twist to the six-day rocket war being waged between Israel and militant Palestinian groups in Gaza led by Hamas.”

While Israel requires all buildings constructed after the first Gulf War to be equipped with a bomb shelter, buildings in Palestinian Authority-controlled areas do not legally need such protection.

Israeli-Arabs also came under rocket fire over the weekend. Virtually all of Israel’s 1.5 million Arabs now face the threat of rockets – mainly from Gaza, but also with the projectiles fired on two occasions from Lebanon.

Israel’s Iron Dome system is keeping Israeli citizens safe. Its success rate in targeting rockets headed for densely-populated areas runs at some 90 percent.

Israel’s Iron Dome has been a crucial component of its defensive operation as it has “intercepted more than 70 [rockets], including approximately 10 missiles that were fired at Tel Aviv.”

[Photo: Google Earth]