Israel's Iron Dome has intercepted missiles coming from Iran after Tehran launched a massive strike on Tuesday - but what is the defence system and how does it work?
The Iron Dome will have given Israelis some sense of security tonight amid a terrifying escalation in the Middle East. Leaders in Tehran ordered a direct attack on Israel in what it called a retaliation over a series of attacks against Iran-backed organisations across the region.
Dozens of missiles flew over the heads of Israelis toward coastal cities at about 7:30pm local time. As with Iran's drone attack in April this year, Israel's Iron Dome intercepted and shot down several projectiles.
But the the Iron Dome is not a guarantee defence and missiles have filtered through the defence system. Tonight, a photo of one of Iran's missiles was uploaded to X/Twitter by user Hillel Fuld.
"Just so you understand what one, one of the ballistic missiles that Iran just fired looks like, " he said. "Here's a part of one that landed. That's one and that's not even the whole thing."
But what is the Iron Dome and how effective is it?
When was the Iron Dome activated?
The Iron Dome came online in 2011, and uses a top-end rocket defence system that has been used to intercept thousands of rockets coming into Israel. The overwhelming majority of rockets have come from the Gaza Strip which neighbours Israel.
It made its first successful rocket interception of a Gaza-origin rocket on April 7, 2011. A huge amount of funding for the Iron Dome was made by the United States and is believed to have originally cost upward of $1.6billion (£1.19billion) between 2011 and 2021.
How Does it work?
The Iron Dome relies on a number of radars that detect Israel-bound rockets and then goes on to intercept them. Each battery uses between three to four and has capacity to fire 20 missiles.
When the missiles are detected, the Iron Dome then works to see whether it is headed toward a populated area. If it is, the Iron Dome is activated and missiles are fired to intercept the incoming rocket.
But if it is headed toward an empty area, it is left alone and allowed to land. The reason for doing this is to conserve resources.
Israel has not formally admitted how many batteries are currently deployed. But, according to NBC, as of 2021 it is known that there are at least 10 batteries at different locations around Israel.
How effective is the Iron Dome?
The Iron Dome is believes to be about 90 per cent effective, according to Israel's Rafael Defence Systems. But a large enough attack can lead to some filtering though and hitting targets in Israel.
The Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv-based think tank. A single Iron Dome missile costs between $40,000 to $50,000 (£30,147 to £37,683).
The United States also backs Israel with additional equipment that is designed to keep the country safe. Multiple US presidents have vowed to protect Israel from external threats in the region, including current White House occupant President Joe Biden.
