The Israeli Air Force will receive the fourth battery of the Iron Dome anti-rocket defense system in the coming weeks, officials here said Tuesday.

Speaking to troops during a tour of the army's Gaza Division on Tuesday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak estimated that the additional battery will be deployed "within two, maybe three weeks."

"It's important to note the system's exceptional achievements. The interception rate (of rockets fired from Gaza in recent days) was very high. It protected civilians, helped deter (the enemy) and contributed to the political echelon's freedom of judgement," Barak said, according to a statement.

Defense officials said the three Iron Dome batteries that the IAF currently operates successfully downed a quarter of the more than 200 rockets fired by Gaza militants into Israeli territory since the latest round of hostilities broke out on Friday.

Developed by ELTA Systems Ltd., a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries, the system's tracking radar, which calculates the trajectory of an incoming rocket, only intercepts projectiles identified as approaching populated areas, and disregards those that do not pose a risk.

Senior IAF officials said they would accelerate the deployment of the fourth Iron Dome battery if the recent escalation in rocket attacks against southern Israel continues, Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot reported Tuesday.

The IAF, in conjunction with Iron Dome's developer and the Defense Ministry, is reportedly working to upgrade Iron Dome's capabilities, so as to enable interception of rockets with a range longer than 40 km, according to a report in the Ha'aretz newspaper.

Citing concerns that cities in central Israel could eventually be threatened by rockets, Col. Zvi Haimovich, a senior commander in the IAF's Air Defense Corps, said Sunday that "I wouldn't be surprised if the challenges we will face during this escalation, or during the next, will include rockets with a range of more than 40 kilometers," Ha'aretz reported.

Proof that Gaza militants were growing bolder by shooting farther came on Monday, when a Grad rocket slammed into a building in Gedera, a town some 40 km south of Tel Aviv, for the first time.

Despite the relative calmness, the situation along the border remained volatile on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, three rockets and five mortar shells were fired at southern Israel, although there were no reports of injury or damage.

Overnight Monday, Israel and militant groups in Gaza reportedly agreed to an Egyptian-mediated unofficial cease-fire to end four days of mutual attacks.

Islamic Jihad, the group behind the latest rocket barrages on Israel, announced that it had accepted the truce, according to foreign media reports that cited a senior Egyptian security official.

Israeli political and military officials, however, toned down expectations that the truce would hold, underscoring that Israel would reciprocate a cessation of rocket attacks by halting airstrikes in Gaza.

"If there are no attacks from Gaza, there is no reason to take action to protect our people," a senior government official told Xinhua Tuesday morning.

"At the moment, the direction is toward calm and it appears, unless there are last-minute developments, that this round is now behind us," Home Front Defense Minister Matan Vilnai told Army Radio earlier in the day.