JERUSALEM, March 14 (Xinhua) -- The four-day conflicts between Israel and militant groups in the Gaza Strip starting from Friday and ending with an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire, has been one of the longest of the year, which features both new elements such as the Iron Dome anti-rocket system and the old elements of the previous rounds.
The three Iron Dome batteries, deployed by Israel last year in the south, successfully downed a quarter of the more than 200 rockets fired by Gaza militants during the violence. Each battery has a tracking radar so that it can follow the target and decide whether to engage or not, only rockets projected to land in populated areas will be intercepted.
Uri Bar-Joseph of the University of Haifa said that the success of the Iron Dome has increased the diplomatic and strategic maneuverability of the Israeli political and military echelons.
"Because without it Israel could have suffered already a few casualties and once there are casualties the government feels that it has to go for a larger scale operation, maybe even a ground operation," Bar-Joseph said.
"Without having any Israelis killed the government and the Israeli Defense Forces both feel ... that it gives them a better freedom of action," he added.
Although the system has been highly successful, the Israeli army cautioned citizens that the Iron Dome doesn't provide hermetic protection and that there is no magic solution to the problem.
In addition to the introduction of the Iron Dome, there is another notable change in the latest flare-up. Many Islamic groups re-entered into politics after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who had been close to Israel, was ousted from power in February 2011.
The resurgence of Islamic parties, especially the Muslim Brotherhood, has led to some tension between Israel and Egypt, with some members of the party calling for peace agreement with Israel to be discarded.
However, Mark Heller, of Tel Aviv University, said the rise of the Islamists so far hasn't affected security cooperation, because dealings with Israel are still in the hands of the interim military council that took over after Mubarak.
Besides, Professor Efraim Inbar of Bar-Ilan University noted that the Gaza ruler Hamas movement chose to remain outside the conflict was "particularly due to the political circumstances," listing that Hamas is divided within; its head needed to leave the embattled Syrian capital of Damascus and there are tension with Iran.
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