Hiker finds remains of rocket fired at Eilat

A hiker walking in the hills outside the Red Sea resort city of Eilat stumbled upon the remains of a Grad rocket on Friday. The man alerted security forces to the location so they could determine where the fire originated from.

On Thursday a hard-line Islamist group operating in the Sinai claimed responsibility for the rocket fire as well as for a series of attacks on Egypt’s gas pipeline to Israel.

The group, called the Salafi Front in Sinai, issued a statement on a number of Islamist sites.

Rockets have been fired at Eilat from the Sinai in the past. In April, two rockets fell in open areas of the city. In 2010, five rockets were fired at Eilat, with several overshooting Israeli territory and one killing a Jordanian in neighboring Aqaba.

Terror attacks originating in the Sinai have become increasingly common as Muslim extremists have taken advantage of the power vacuum left after the ouster of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.

Last week Israel gave Egypt permission to deploy extra troops, tanks and attack helicopters in the peninsula in an attempt to crack down on terrorist groups in the region.