Israel deploys rocket defence system

The Iron Dome system, just north of Beersheba, will provide increased security to Israelis. The southern city was twice hit by rockets during this month’s flare-up of cross-border violence.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told his cabinet in Jerusalem: "I do not want to create an illusion that the Iron Dome system, which we are deploying for the first time today, will provide a full or comprehensive response."

"The real response to the missile threat is in the combination of offensive and deterrent measures with defensive measures, and with a firm stance by the government and public," he said.

Netanyahu spoke shortly after Israel killed two members of Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian group behind much of the recent rocket fire, in a Gaza air strike.