08 November 2009 - 10H36  

Israel planning cell phone rocket alerts
An Israeli sapper removes the remains of a rocket which landed in Sderot after being fired by militants in the Gaza Strip, May 2009. Israel is working on a warning system that will calculate the precise location of where a rocket will hit and alert residents in the area using cell phones.
An Israeli sapper removes the remains of a rocket which landed in Sderot after being fired by militants in the Gaza Strip, May 2009. Israel is working on a warning system that will calculate the precise location of where a rocket will hit and alert residents in the area using cell phones.

AFP - Israel is working on a warning system that will calculate the precise location of where a rocket will hit and alert residents in the area using cell phones, a newspaper reported on Sunday.

"The rocket sensor will create a virtual ellipse (of the predicted impact zone) and all phones in that area will receive a warning," the Jerusalem Post quoted Chilik Soffer, a senior official at the Israeli Home Front Command, as saying.

"We will use communications technology to send the signals and we are now working with the communications ministry to make the alert available," he said.

The alert will come in as a vibration, audio alert, light flash or text message, he added.

The aim is to make more specific the air raid systems that Israel currently has in communities near the border with Lebanon and Gaza, which have in the past come under regular rocket fire from Hezbollah and Palestinian militant groups.

Close