IAF to deploy new urban missile in Gaza Strip

By YAAKOV KATZ
Due to the complex nature of warfare in densely-populated urban areas, the IAF plans to begin using a new missile in the Gaza Strip next week that is designed to better target terrorists and to reduce collateral damage, The Jerusalem Post has learned. The air force plans to install the missile, whose name has not yet been made public, on aircraft over the weekend and to begin using it in the Strip next week. According to a high-ranking IDF officer involved in the development of the missile, the new weapon will reduce the number of innocent Palestinian casualties. "We want to increase our accuracy in targeting those we are out to hit while at the same time ensuring the safety of those Palestinians not involved in terrorism," the officer told the Post on Thursday. The initiative follows a spate of botched IAF missiles strikes in Gaza last month in which more than 10 innocent civilians were killed in failed missile strikes. The officer said the IAF was supplying support for infantry in northern Gaza. "The infantry units draw out the terrorists and then the IAF helicopters sweep in and strike," he said. The large number of civilians and IDF troops in Gaza, he said, made missile attacks more difficult, requiring professional, surgical strikes.