Israel is under a pretty consistent threat from rockets launched by Palestinian militants, but as talk of a possible Iranian military strike continue the threat of attack is vastly expanded, and officials are working on ways to minimize potential fatalities.
Xinhua News reports that one strategy Israeli officials have come up with is a text message warning system that began a week long series of tests on Sunday. The system is designed to plot the trajectory of incoming missiles, and unguided rockets and blanket area cell phones with an incoming alert.
The idea is that residents will have enough time to make their way to shelters and help keep the number of potential deaths down.
Israeli authorities currently estimate a retaliatory strike by Iran will incur about 300 fatalities, a number that's unacceptable to many residents. A Facebook campaign called "How Many Is 300, Really?" was launched to publicize the figure and has about 420 "likes" on the social networking site.
From Xinhua:
"Hopefully, this test would show us exactly how well this system operates within Israeli society and might help save unnecessary casualties in case of a looming war," the source said.
"It could help civilians who are not in a dangerous area carry on with their routine and also help save lives of those traveling on the road while an attack takes place," the source added, "If it could save just one person, then we've done our job. Hopefully we will be able to get the system working by next month."
The texts will be sent in English, Russian, Hebrew and Arabic between 8 am and 6 pm during the testing and will say: "The Home Front Command, checking cellular system," followed by a serial number.
The "Personal Message" system has been in development for some time and should be fully operational within a month.
Israel maintains that it will not allow Iran to continue its alleged nuclear program, and rumors continue to swirl that the country may attack Iran as part of its efforts to stop it.
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