'Identify, follow, corroborate and eliminate'

The IDF Gaza Division's Canopy of Fire multilayered offensive system, combining intelligence and aerial capabilities, has struck between 40 and 50 terrorists in the Gaza Strip since the most recent cease-fire collapsed last Monday.

During that time span, the Canopy of Fire system eliminated 10 to 12 mortars, and throughout Operation Protective Edge an estimated 470 targets were destroyed and 460 terrorist operatives were killed, a senior officer in the Gaza Division told Israel Hayom.

According to the Gaza Division officer, Canopy of Fire is "a system that combines intelligence with firepower, and was created to hit every type of high-trajectory threat against Israel."

The process begins with the flow of relevant intelligence information to a special operations center in the Gaza Division, after which more resources are summoned to gather information about a target and, if need be, at the end of the process a strike is ordered to destroy the target.

This is how it works: After receiving pertinent intelligence, additional scouting is ordered onto the relevant target from the air with drones or by means on the ground, either mobile or static. After positively identifying the target and corroborating it is a threat, an attack is allowed from the air or ground and according to the discretion of the Gaza Division.

An officer with the rank of lieutenant-colonel is always present in the Canopy of Fire operations center for the purpose of authorizing a strike. Under extraordinary circumstances, when sensitive structures such as schools are located in the vicinity of a target, a series of authorizations are required.

"Closing the circle can take from a matter of minutes to much longer," the officer said. "There is quite a bit of fire from places such as schools or cemeteries. What is unique is the ability to do this very quickly and hit as few uninvolved bystanders as possible along the way. The moment that people who are shooting are identified, they are kept under observation and we decide on what means to employ -- from the air or ground," he said.

"There are many dilemmas," the officer said. "For example, people distancing themselves from a point of incident and blending into the civilian population. On many occasions we canceled an attack. Finding a 15-centimeter (6-inch) tube in Gaza is not a simple mission."

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