Iron Dome, David's Sling, Arrow 3 - yet Israel was unable to defend itself against Iran's missiles. Here's why

Israel-Iran Ceasefire: Amid the ongoing Israel-Iran war, Iran fired multiple ballistic missiles at Tel Aviv, Beersheba, and Haifa in a week, killing over a dozen people and damaging other cities in Israel. And all this despite the technological superiority, Iron Dome, and a robust military. Since the war began, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has struck multiple missile launch sites in Iran under Operation Rising Lion. However, Iran's deception tactics and scale of missile barrages make it tough, if not impossible, for Israel to have a tight defence against the Islamic Republic. Now, Israelis are questioning why Israel is not able to save itself from the Iranian missiles.

Huge barrage of missiles

At the beginning of the escalated tensions, after Israel struck Iran and initiated the war, Iran retaliated by launching a huge barrage of missiles at trucks that move around and wait for launch orders, as opposed to stationary launch sites.

The IDF and IAF have tried hunting such launchers using drones, but they have not been able to evade the challenge completely.

Warheads

The variety of Iranian missiles launched at Israel has also been a major challenge for Tel Aviv. Iran has used multiple warheads since the war began. A majority of the missiles launched by Iran had blast warheads containing cluster bombs, dozens of small, detachable, and dispersible munitions.

In addition, Iran has also used missiles with different engine systems to challenge Israel's air defence systems.

Strike from multiple locations

Iran has also launched missiles from multiple regions across the country towards Israel. All these attacks were done simultaneously, hence there has been a complaint that the Israeli defence system failed to calculate and divert attention.

The current state of the Israel-Iran war

On Monday (June 23), US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran amid the escalating war between the two nations. He said that the 12-day war could have "destroyed" the Middle East, but was now ending.

“There will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE (in approximately 6 hours from now, when Israel and Iran have wound down and completed their in-progress, final missions!), for 12 hours, at which point the War will be considered ENDED!” Trump wrote on his social media Truth Social.

Iran swiftly rejected Trump's claim, saying there was no ceasefire as of now. “As Iran has repeatedly made clear: Israel launched war on Iran, not the other way around," Araghchi said.

“As of now, there is NO ‘agreement’ on any ceasefire or cessation of military operations. However, provided that the Israeli regime stops its illegal aggression against the Iranian people no later than 4 am Tehran time, we have no intention to continue our response afterwards," The Iranian Foreign Minister added.

'Iran doesn't surrender'

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei shared a message on X after Trump's announcement, saying Iran is not a nation that surrenders. “Those who know the Iranian people and their history know that the Iranian nation isn’t a nation that surrenders," Khamenei wrote.