Can Israel's Iron Dome be breached? The system's capabilities are being scrutinized amid the increasing possibility of conflict with Hezbollah.

• On Thursday morning, Hezbollah announced that it had launched 200 rockets into Israel, marking one of its largest attacks to date, in response to the Israeli assassination of one of its senior commanders.
• A devastating war between Israel and Hezbollah would affect both countries negatively.
• The Iron Dome defense system of Israel could be overwhelmed if it faces a two-front war against Hamas and Hezbollah, according to military experts.

On Thursday morning, Hezbollah announced that it fired 200 rockets into Israel, one of its largest attacks to date, after the Israeli assassination of a senior commander, increasing concerns of a possible full-blown war between the two heavily armed adversaries.

The Lebanese militant group, backed by Iran and labeled as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and U.K., claimed responsibility for attacking 10 Israeli military sites using a fleet of drones. Israel's military stated that multiple projectiles and suspicious aerial targets violated its territory, with many being intercepted, and no casualties reported.

Since October 7th, when Israel began its war against Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah has launched thousands of rockets into Israel. These rockets, originating from Lebanon, have resulted in the deaths of 18 Israeli soldiers and 10 civilians, according to Israel. Meanwhile, Israeli shelling has led to the deaths of approximately 300 Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon and around 80 civilians, as calculated by Reuters.

The high success rate of Israel's Iron Dome defense system is responsible for the low number of Israeli casualties. This mobile all-weather system intercepts incoming rockets and other short-range threats in mid-air with a success rate of around 90%, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

The Iron Dome, developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems with U.S. backing and funded by Washington, has successfully prevented countless rockets from hitting Israeli communities since becoming fully operational in March 2011.

The Iron Dome successfully intercepts approximately 90% of the daily rocket attacks from Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza, as claimed by the IDF. Since the start of Israel's war in Gaza, more than 37,000 people have been killed in the besieged strip, according to Palestinian health authorities. This brutal offensive was sparked by Hamas' terror attack on Oct. 7, which resulted in the deaths of roughly 1,200 people in Israel and the capture of an additional 253 hostages, with 116 of them being released.

Can the Iron Dome defense system withstand the combined threat of Hamas and Hezbollah, given that Hezbollah has a significantly larger arsenal of missiles and is estimated to have 10 times the military capability of Hamas?

'Payloads that Hamas could not dream of'

The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah would have devastating consequences for both sides, with at least 150,000 residents of southern Lebanon and northern Israel already displaced due to the ongoing cross-border fire.

According to retired Israel Defense Forces Col. Miri Eisin, who heads the International Institute for Counterterrorism in Israel, the Iron Dome will not completely fail during a large-scale missile attack, but its interception success rate may decrease, resulting in more damage to Israeli infrastructure and casualties.

Eisin stated that although our interception capabilities are very high, the percentage will decrease, which means that they will be able to cause damage to vital infrastructure in Israel, such as power plants and the Tel Aviv international airport.

Hamas could not dream of the payloads that Hezbollah has," she said. "I would expect hundreds of killed, thousands of casualties, and a challenging time period at the local level.

Since its inception in 1982 during Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon, with funding from Iran, the Lebanese Shiite organization has become one of the most heavily armed non-state groups globally.

According to Victor Tricaud, a senior analyst at consulting firm Control Risks, Hizbullah's missile and rocket stockpile is estimated to be around 150,000. In comparison, Hamas' rockets and missiles are estimated to number in the tens of thousands.

According to Tricaud, Hezbollah possesses more advanced weapons systems than Hamas, including Iranian-supplied guided Fateh missiles and drones.

Israel's air defense systems would have a harder time detecting and neutralizing such munitions, resulting in a higher likelihood of causing significant damage to critical economic infrastructure across the country, according to him.

'A hell of a lot more damage'

In 2006, Israel and Hezbollah engaged in a 34-day war, with Hezbollah declaring victory and Israel viewing it as a strategic failure.

Israel's Reichman University published a report titled "Fire and blood: The chilling reality facing Israel in a war with Hezbollah," which detailed a scenario in which Hezbollah would launch 2,500 to 3,000 missiles and rockets daily for several weeks, targeting both military and civilian sites in Israel. For comparison, Hezbollah fired an estimated 4,000 rockets at Israel during the entire 2006 war.

Hezbollah is currently launching more rockets and firing at a higher rate than during the 2006 war, according to Phillip Smyth, an expert on Iranian proxies and former senior fellow at the Washington Institute.

Hezbollah has the capability to produce short-range rockets with lower accuracy, which, when combined with their newer higher accuracy missiles and increasing supply of suicide drones, could pose a much greater threat to the Israelis than in 2006, according to the expert.

"Smyth warned that the issue of increased accuracy for these weapons systems is a big problem. He believes that Iron Dome can handle many of the intermediate-range missiles, which are likely fewer in number. However, combined with the accuracy shown with some UAV attacks, there could be a significant amount of damage."

— CNBC's Sam Meredith contributed to this report.