Israel’s missile defences blunt Palestinian attacks from Gaza

THE NIGHT sky above Israel’s Mediterranean coast on May 11th was like a cosmic football match, as fiery shooting stars tried to outrun and catch each other; fireballs marked successful shots. Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two militant Palestinian groups, have fired more than 1,000 rockets from Gaza, at targets including the greater Tel Aviv area, Israel’s main metropolis and home to 4m people. Israel’s Iron Dome missile-defence system has been trying to shoot them down—with considerable success. Only a handful of rockets have got through to hit built-up areas. Despite the barrage, Israeli deaths remain in single digits.

The fear is that this aerial battle is the precursor to an all-out war, involving a ground invasion of Gaza by Israeli troops. Already more than 50 Palestinians, including a senior Hamas commander, have been killed by Israel’s bombing campaign.