Video shows Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system intercepting Hezbollah rockets overnight as fears over wider conflict mount

The Iron Dome is designed to intercept rockets and drones launched from Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, per the CSIS.

• Video footage shows Israel's Iron Dome air-defense system intercepting a number of rockets overnight.
• The rockets were fired by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
• Fears are rising over the potential for the conflict to spill over into a full-blown war.

Video footage shows Israel's Iron Dome air-defense system intercepting a number of rockets fired by Hezbollah overnight.

The Lebanese group has been exchanging strikes with Israel since October in a show of support for the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has been locked in conflict with Israel since its October 7 attacks on the country.

The Israel Defense Forces said its air defenses intercepted most of the roughly 30 rockets they detected in the upper Galilee region in northern Israel overnight.

Fears have been rapidly increasing over the potential for the conflict to spill over into a full-blown war.

The past week saw tensions spike after an Israeli strike on Beirut on Tuesday killed the senior Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr.

Following the attack, Iran's Permanent Mission to the UN warned that Hezbollah's response would involve hitting "broader and deeper targets" in Israeli territory and that the group would likely "not restrict itself solely to military targets and means."

Unnamed US officials previously told CNN that an all-out war could see Hezbollah overwhelm at least some of Israel's Iron Dome batteries.

The Iron Dome

The Iron Dome is a mobile missile defense system that is designed to stop rockets and drones launched from Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Missile Defense Project.

The system, which has been operational since 2011, has three main parts — the Tamir interceptor missile and its launcher, the ELM 2084 Multimission Radar, and a battle management and weapon control system, the CSIS says.

Earlier this year, the system helped intercept a large-scale drone attack launched by Iran.

Between 2011 and 2021, the US contributed at least $1.6 billion to the defense system.