Israeli authorities say many Israeli lives have been saved as a result of the Iron Dome system which has been built to intercept rockets launched by Hamas.

In Tel Aviv, IDF spokesman lieutenant colonel Peter Lerner said: “the Iron Dome missile defence system has been a huge success in saving Israeli lives with a 90 percent success rate in interception.”

In Ashkelon, further south and around 7 kilometres from the border with Gaza, people say they have lived under constant fire since 2006.

Director of strategic planning at Ashkelon Municipality, Alan Marcus said residents now feel safer. “Since July 8th there has been over 65 missiles shot at Ashkelon and over 35 have been shot down by Iron Dome,” he told euronews.

Ravit Lowe who lives in Ashkelon says her children have grown up with the fear of rockets being fired at them.

“I’m worried and afraid. I want this to be over as soon as possible. You can hear, this is what we hear all the time. We don’t even come outside to the garden because you know 30 seconds is not a long time to run for shelter. The kids get anxious so we stay inside all day.”

Euronews correspondent in Israel, Valerie Gauriat, was given a tour of the Iron Dome defence system.

She says the Israeli government wants to show that it can protect its citizens from rocket attacks by Hamas, which have continued despite the bombardment of Gaza. She adds that she saw several repeated rocket attacks in the town of Ashkelon, which were intercepted by the Iron Dome. However she says that most of the Israelis she spoke to were more worried about a ground invasion of Gaza than they were about the rockets from Hamas.