IDF: Rocket fired from Gaza hits southern Israel, no injuries

A rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip on Sunday evening, landing in an open area in southern Israel, the Israel Defense Forces said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

Soldiers were searching the area where the projectile was believed to have fallen in the Eshkol Regional Council, the army said.

The rocket strike was the first from the coastal enclave in two months. It came as Israelis were celebrating the Sukkot holiday.

Shortly before the strike, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman tweeted that he had visited nearby Sderot with his family earlier in the day.

Today I felt so at home celebrating Sukkot with the resilient families of Sderot, who typify the greatness of the people of Israel. pic.twitter.com/8ucCz3XmFH

— Chargé d’Affaires ad interim Stephanie Hallett (@USAmbIsrael) October 8, 2017

“Today I felt so at home celebrating Sukkot with the resilient families of Sderot, who typify the greatness of the people of Israel,” he wrote.

While no group immediately claimed Sunday’s rocket fire, Israel holds Hamas responsible for all rockets emanating from the Strip.

On Saturday, a Code Red alert sounded moments apart in two southern communities near the Gaza Strip — Netiv Ha’asara and Yad Mordechai — in what the IDF said later was a false alarm.

Several past incidents in recent months have also been false alarms.

Hamas, the terror group that rules Gaza, has largely refrained from firing rockets into Israel since it fought a devastating war with Israel in 2014. Launches have often been ascribed to radical Salafist groups.

Earlier Saturday, Hamas said it had arrested four senior Islamic State members, including the group’s leader in the coastal enclave.

The rocket fire comes as Hamas and the Palestinian Authority are engaged in reconciliation negotiations to see the PA resume civil control of the Gaza Strip.

Alexander Fulbright contributed to this report.