Hours after Sharon's death, rocket fired from Gaza at Israel

No impact reported as sirens wail in southern city of Ashkelon, not far from ex-PM’s family home at Shikmim Farm

By Ilan Ben Zion 11 January 2014, 7:00 pm 8 Edit

Ilan Ben Zion, a reporter at the Associated Press, is a former news editor at The Times of Israel. He holds a Masters degree in Diplomacy from Tel Aviv University and an Honors Bachelors degree from the University of Toronto in Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, Jewish Studies, and English.

A Kassam rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip at southern Israel Saturday evening, not far from where relatives of late ex-prime minister Ariel Sharon gathered at the family home at Shikmim Farm.

Red alert sirens sounded in the area near the coastal city of Ashkelon, but no impact was reported, an IDF spokesperson said.

Palestinian sources reported Israeli retaliatory airstrikes into the Gaza Strip shortly thereafter. There was no confirmation of the reports.

Israel evacuated the Gaza Strip under Sharon’s orders in 2005. Two years later, the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas forcefully took over the coastal enclave, expelling members of the governing Fatah party.

Hamas on Saturday called Sharon’s death a “historic moment” that marked the “disappearance of a criminal whose hands were covered with Palestinian blood.”