Tel Aviv In The Crosshairs Of Resistance Rockets For The Second Time

Charles Abi Nader

A medium-range missile launched from the besieged Gaza Strip in occupied Palestine landed on a colony on the outskirts of Tel Aviv. The settlers were unable to evade the rocket because the sirens were not triggered properly for them to take the necessary precautions and head to the nearest shelter. Six of them were wounded moderately.

The targeting of Tel Aviv on Monday carries a lot of dimensions that differ from previous attacks on the enemy, especially the last one. On March 15, Tel Aviv was struck with two missiles. Those behind the rocket attacks were unknown. As far as the dimensions of the latest attack are concerned, they can be identified as follows:

The technical dimension

The enemy's Iron Dome System did not intercept the missile. It was supposed to be operational round-the-clock to "protect" the airspace of the occupied territories. The launch distance from the nearest possible point in Gaza to the targeted Sharon area north of Tel Aviv is approximately 90 km. The distance is sufficient to provide enough time for an intervention of the enemy's air defense system. It’s failure to do so seems strange, especially in light of the existing tensions in the occupied territories and the high state of alert between the resistance and the enemy.

Of course, the non-interference by the air defense system meant to protect Tel Aviv and its surroundings means that it failed. It is not a matter of negligence or disregard of the resistance’s missiles since the enemy knows the latter’s capabilities. This matter carries a sensitive and accurate message regarding some of the precision and qualitative missiles the resistance in Gaza possesses.

The military and field dimension

It appears that Tel Aviv and the areas surrounding it have become the "target spot" for the resistance and its missiles.

In addition to the two missiles fired at Tel Aviv in mid-March, the last missile also landed in the Sharon area northeast of Tel Aviv with relative ease.

The issue is no longer confined to the Gaza enclave and its surroundings. This carries signs of a higher threat level posed by the resistance to the vital areas – Tel Aviv and its surroundings – which contain strategic enemy sites, airports as well as the entity’s military and political leadership centers.

The strategic dimension

In practice, the nature of the attack on Tel Aviv with a precision missile for a second time cannot be isolated from the region’s more general political and strategic realities. On the one hand, there is the recent decision by US President Donald Trump to recognize “Israel's” sovereignty over the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, and on the other, the broader US pressure on the axis of resistance.

First, in light of the technical and the military dimensions involving the use of qualitative rockets against Tel Aviv, this attack has become a threat to the entity’s vital points during any confrontation and in light of a broad regional strategic engagement, along with increasing internal pressure on Netanyahu, both by the judiciary and the electorate.

Second, in light of what occupied Palestine is currently witnessing, including the enemy summoning most of the air defense crew (the Iron Dome), the reinforcement of the border with the Gaza Strip with two additional infantry and armored vehicle brigades, the closure of most of the crossings with the Gaza Strip, it is very likely that the enemy will launch a military adventure in Gaza. This assumption is reinforced by Netanyahu's decision to cut his visit to Washington short and return home quickly to follow up on the repercussions and measures.

Will the enemy launch a "limited operation" aimed at eliminating the "threat" posed by qualitative missiles, or will it develop into a broad confrontation, the results and repercussions of which would not be calculated?