False alarm sends Israelis scrambling to bomb shelters in south

Rocket sirens sounded in Israeli communities adjacent to the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, sending thousands of residents running to bomb shelters in what the military said was a false alarm.

The alarm systems were triggered shortly before 10 a.m. in the city of Sderot and communities in the Sha’ar Hanegev region of southern Israel.

The Israel Defense Forces did not specify what caused the false alarm. In the past, such events have been triggered by large-caliber gunfire near the border, which the military’s sensitive detection systems misidentify as rocket fire.

The sirens came a day after an exchange along the border, in which an Israeli tank fired at a Hamas observation post after IDF soldiers in the area believed they had been shot at by terrorists in the Strip.

Two Hamas fighters were killed in the Israeli strike. The terror group threatened to avenge their deaths and warned Israel that it would pay for the attack.

“The resistance cannot allow the occupation to impose a policy of bombing sites and targeting fighters without paying the price,” Hamas said in a statement.

The Hamas terror group, which rules Gaza, denied that shots had been fired at the soldiers, saying they were part of a training exercise for its naval commando unit.

Army officials later acknowledged that the fighters had likely not fired at the soldiers, Channel 10 news reported.

IDF officials told Haaretz the strike was justified. A force that identifies gunfire near the border fence that may endanger soldiers is compelled to respond, and is not expected to check the intent behind the shooting, they said.

According to Channel 10 the army has conveyed messages to Hamas via Egypt acknowledging the error, but insisting that retaliatory fire on IDF troops would not be tolerated.

Hamas said the two dead men were snipers who participated in the drill, Ahmad Marjan and Abd al-Hafiz al-Silawi, both 23. Another six were injured in the Israeli strike, Palestinian media reported.

The IDF released footage it said showed the Hamas men firing and the shell hitting the post.

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The flareup came amid reports that Israel and Hamas could be nearing a truce that would see a halt in the cross-border attacks and the easing of the blockade of the Strip.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.