Jerusalem, Jan 21

 Israel has deployed an anti-missile battery in the southern city of Be'er Sheva, the defence ministry said Monday.

The Iron Dome battery was deployed due to rising fears of hostilities between Israel and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Previously, another battery was deployed next to the southern seaport of Ashdod, Xinhua quoted a spokesperson of Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) as saying.

After a year of relative calm following eight days of conflict in late 2012, missile attacks allegedly by Gaza militants and retaliatory air strikes by Israel became frequent in the past few weeks.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel is "determined to keep the calm in the south", and he "advices Hamas to take this policy under consideration" as Israel would not hesitate to strike back at Palestinian militants.

However, according to Palestinian sources, the recent missiles launched to southern Israel were the results of the infighting between various militant groups in the Gaza Strip.

By:IANS