Shocking video shows how missile defense system costing $50 million actually works
Shocking footage has been shared on social media showing how Israel's $50 million defense system works.
For decades, Israel has been involved in a violent and bitter conflict with the Palestinian people.
In 1948, Jewish leaders declared the creation of the state of Israel, which led to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fleeing their homes, during what a period called Al Nakba, or the 'Catastrophe'.
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Once the fighting ended, after a ceasefire was declared, Israel controlled most of the area, with Jerusalem divided between Jordanian forces in the East and an Israeli presence in the West.
But because no peace agreement was signed, fighting continued for decades, and continues to this day.
In 1967, another conflict broke out, with Israel occupying East Jerusalem, the West Bank, along with Gaza, the Syrian Golan Heights, and the Egyptian Sinai peninsula.
In the past 50 years, the state of Israeli has built a number of settlements in these areas, where over 600,000 Jewish people now live.
According to United Nations expert Francesca Albanese, these settlements are illegal and Israel's occupation of these territories is indistinguishable from a 'settler-colonial' situation.
Gaza, which Israel left in 2005, is now controlled by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, who regularly fire rockets into Israel.
However, the vast majority of these missiles never reach their intended target due to Israel's high-tech defense system, called 'Iron Dome'.
The advanced mechanism consists of a handful of batteries, each of which costs $50m, and work by intercepting any rockets targeted at Israel.
Footage, which has been posted in social media, shows the system in action.
In a video shared on Reddit, rockets heading towards Israel can be seen flying through the air, before the Iron Dome batteries fire, meeting the missiles in mid air and destroying them.
Last year, during rising tensions between the Israeli authorities and Hamas, the system was seen in full during a missile strike on a city in Israel.
Footage from the news report in Ashkelon showed the moment numerous missiles were launched into the skies above.
In the short clip, sirens can be heard ringing as the journalist does a piece to camera, with the sound of explosions echoing around him.
And as the camera pans upwards, Israeli-launched missile can be see attempting to intercept missiles aimed at the city below.
Dominic Smithers