Israel deploys Iron Dome in North amid Syria tensions

Batteries placed in Haifa, Safed after reported strikes on Syria.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Iron Dome battery 370 (photo credit: Ben Hartman)
Iron Dome battery 370
(photo credit: Ben Hartman)
The IDF has deployed two Iron Dome batteries to northern cities due to regional tensions following air strikes in Damascus which foreign sources have attributed to the Israel Air Force.
In recent days, one battery has been stationed in Haifa, while another has been placed in Safed, a senior defense source said. The source stressed that "this is not the first time that the systems have been deployed to the North."
The IDF took similar action in the days before the January 30 air strike - also attributed to the IAF by foreign media - on a weapons convoy in Syria heading for Hezbollah in Lebanon carrying advanced anti-aircraft weapons.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu made no mention at a public appearance on Sunday of alleged Israeli air strikes on Syria in recent days but spoke pointedly about a commitment to keeping Israel secure.
"(My father) taught me that the greatest responsibility we have is to ensure Israel's security and guarantee its future," he said, dedicating a highway interchange named after his late father, Benzion Netanyahu, a historian who died a year ago.
Kiryat Shmona Mayor Nissim Malka told Channel 2 on Sunday public bomb shelters in the city would not be opened in order to avoid fear-mongering.
Meanwhile, Iran condemned an Israeli attack on Syria and urged countries in the region to stand against the action, the Fars news agency reported on Sunday.
Israel carried out its second air strike in days on Syria early on Sunday, a Western intelligence source said, in an attack that shook Damascus with a series of powerful blasts and drove columns of fire into the night sky.
Israel declined to comment, but Syria accused the Jewish state of carrying out a raid on a military facility just north of the capital.
Reuters contributed to this report.


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