Sparrow target missile launch triggers alerts across region, and Binyamin Netanyahu says attacks on Israel 'not advisable'

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

Israel fired a missile on Tuesday to test a new defence system, triggering alerts across a region that is braced for impending international military strikes against Syria.

The Israeli defence ministry confirmed it had launched a Sparrow target missile at 9.15am local time. It said the test of the Arrow anti-missile system was successful.

The exercise was conducted jointly with the United States, according to Israel. However, a spokesman for the US navy European headquarters told Reuters: "No missiles were fired from US ships in the Mediterranean."

Russia sounded the alert, saying its radars at Armavir, near the Black Sea, had detected the launch of two ballistic "objects" in the area, fired from the central Mediterranean towards the east.

A Syrian source told Lebanese television that nothing had been detected by its early warning system.

The Israeli defence ministry said in a statement: "The experiment tested enhanced capabilities of a new type of target missile from the Sparrow series. Arrow anti-missile defence systems, including radars and a command and control system, were also tested."

It added: "The Sparrow missile successfully launched and performed its planned trajectory, in according with the test plan."

It was detected and tracked by the Arrow III missile defence system. "All the elements of the system performed according to their operational configuration."

Israel has redeployed most of its anti-missile systems to the north of the country over the past week amid fears that the Syrian regime could launch attacks on its neighbour – with whom it is still technically at war – following US strikes.

The US-funded missile defence systems are effective at intercepting rockets, but Israel acknowledges that it does not have sufficient capacity to protect the country in the face of a sustained onslaught from Syria or Lebanon.

On Tuesday the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, repeated previous warnings against attacks on Israel. "The reality around us is changing. I want to say to anyone who wants to harm us, it is not advisable," he said. Israel has promised it will respond with force to any attack.

Last week Netanyahu authorised the call-up of a limited number of army reservists in the expectation that the US could launch strikes over the weekend. Thousands of Israelis flocked to distribution depots to collect gas masks.

However, since Barack Obama's announcement on Saturday that he would seek authorisation from Congress before initiating military action, the mood in Israel has calmed. Most military analysts say retaliatory action by the Syrian regime is unlikely, though possible.

The US is expected to take action against Syria after it said the regime crossed a "red line" drawn by Obama over the use of chemical weapons against civilians.