"It doesn't take more than one or two of these things to land in a major urban center to cause political response, to cause panic and to maybe force Israel's hand into a ground operation," said Dan Goure, a missile defense expert with the Lexington Institute.

Another antagonist in the region, Iran, may see Israel's success as a cautionary sign should it look to Hamas to assist in retaliating if Israel strikes Iran's nuclear program, Goure said.

"Israel may be able to tolerate whatever retaliation Hamas or Hezbollah might do in the event of an attack on Iran. So Iran may have felt a little more vulnerable today than it did a week or two ago," Goure observed.