News

Israel
will deploy tanks equipped with a new defense system along the Gaza
border after Palestinian militants for the first time used a
sophisticated, tank-piercing missile believed to be the most advanced
weapon in their arsenal.

Israeli defense officials said the
laser-guided Kornet came from Iran, the top backer of Gaza's Hamas
rulers. Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah guerrillas, also backed by Iran, used
the Russian-made Kornets in their 2006 war against Israel, destroying
or damaging several dozen Israeli tanks.

The Palestinian use of
Kornet missiles, confirmed by Israel's military chief on Tuesday, marks a
new milestone for Gaza militants, who have steadily built up their
arsenal from a collection of crude, homemade rockets to include more
menacing imported weapons.

Israel's answer is called Trophy, a
first-of-its-kind Israeli-made system carried by tanks that is designed
to shoot down missiles like the Kornet. The system, mounted on the side
of a tank, detects an incoming missile and fires a projectile at it,
destroying it, according to video of a test provided by the developer.

Violence
has been escalating along the Gaza border in recent weeks. In his
parliamentary testimony Tuesday, Israel's military chief, Lt. Gen. Gabi
Ashkenazi, confirmed militants fired a Kornet missile for the first time
earlier this month, and it penetrated ... >>>