The Iron Dome air defense system suffered a technical malfunction on Thursday evening, allowing a Gaza rocket to inflict a direct hit on a Rehovot building killing one person, IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari revealed on Friday morning.
While the air defense system fired as intended, it failed to intercept the Islamic Jihad missile that directly hit the apartment building in Rehovot.
Further, Hagari noted that the rocket launched by Gaza landed on the building at a “complex angle,” causing the death of one and injuring eight more.
The Israeli was killed after he was trapped under the rubble of the damaged building. Eight others were lightly injured and received medical treatment on the scene.
Two homes in Sderot were also directly hit by the wave of rockets, although no injuries were reported. In a second wave of rockets an hour later, a third home sustained direct hits.
Police and rescue forces at the scene where a rocket fired from Gaza hit and damaged a house in Rehovot on May 11, 2023 (credit: YOSSI ALONI/FLASH90)Some 860 rockets were launched at Israel from the Gaza Strip since the start of Operation Shield and Arrow on Tuesday.
Iron Dome’s recent technical issues
Last week, a similar technical defect in the Iron Dome led to a small number of rockets penetrating Israel’s “missile shield,” causing some of the more serious injuries on the Israeli side, per a preliminary IDF probe.
The IDF said that its rocket defense unit quickly noted and dealt with the technical issue and restored full effectiveness, which was reflected in an overall performance of 90.5% effectiveness recorded last week.
Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.
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