Israel's military will soon warn citizens in real time and in multiple languages of incoming missiles that are not intercepted via SMS.

The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) plan to activate in June the alert system developed by eViglio and mobile phone maker Ericsson.

The IDF's Home Front Command tested on Sunday the text alert system in the central part of the Israel with the SMS sent in Hebrew, English, Russian, Arabic and Amharic. The alert system, which is already being used to warn of earthquakes and hurricanes, also sends warning to television and radio stations, web sites and billboards.

The SMS alert system is part of the IDF's defence system against missile attacks from Palestinian fighters in Gaza. The defence system includes the Iron Dome, which fires missiles to destroy Kassam rockets used by Hamas fighters.

The IDF's current alert system for incoming missiles is a siren that is sounded when a Kassam rocket is detected. This warning system called Red Color gives Israeli residents near Gaza 15 to 45 seconds to run for cover.

Kibbutzim (collective communities), towns and factories in northern Israel close to the Lebanese border use an SMS alert system provided by Israeli firm Cellact. The service sends SMS warnings of incoming missile attacks and other emergency alerts timely and even with heavy web traffic or poor reception.

Palestinian militants have been firing Kassam artillery rockets into southern Israel since 2000. The attacks have killed 22 Israeli to date. The initial rockets can go a distance of 4.5 kilometres while the latest versions have a range of 20 kilometres.