After rocket fire, southern residents stage small protest

A few dozen residents of Gaza border towns on Saturday night urged the Israeli government to prevent an escalation of hostilities, some 24 hours after two rockets were fired at Israeli cities from the coastal enclave.

Some 30 residents of southern Israel demonstrated outside of Yad Mordechai, brandishing signs reading “We want quiet at home,” and “Bibi! Wake up! We can’t sleep here this way!” and “Rocket! Retaliation! We don’t want another war!”

Sirens warning of an incoming rocket attack sounded on Saturday evening in several communities in southern Israel in what the military later said was a false alarm.

On Friday evening, the Iron Dome intercepted a rocket fired at the southern city of Ashkelon, hours after a similar attack saw a rocket strike land in a residential area of Sderot.

The interception was the first since last summer’s 50-day war between Israel and armed Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip.

Local residents reported hearing loud explosions in the Ashkelon area shortly before midnight. There were no injuries reported in the attack.

Israel later carried out air strikes on three Hamas targets in Gaza.

There were no direct injuries in the Sderot strike, although there was some damage to property, and several people required treatment for shock.

A Palestinian Salafist group affiliated with the Islamic State claimed responsibility for Friday attacks. The Sheikh Omar Hadid Brigade has claimed a number of rocket attacks against Israel this year in defiance of Gaza’s Hamas rulers.

Israel Police said that a bus was damaged in the Sderot strike, while the Ynet website reported that a home was also damaged. The residents were inside at the time of the strike, Ynet said, adding that several people were treated at the scene for shock. One woman was taken to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon after complaining of chest pains and ringing in her ears.