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IDF: Rocket launched from Gaza at south, causes no injuries
Iron Dome not used as projectile was predicted to land in open field; attack comes days after terror group members killed by Israel in West Bank
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent.
A rocket was launched from the Gaza Strip at a southern Israeli town on Saturday evening, the military said.
Sirens sounded in the town of Nahal Oz, close to the border with the Palestinian enclave, shortly before 7 p.m.
The Israel Defense Forces said the rocket landed in an open field, causing no damage or injuries.
The IDF added that the Iron Dome air defense system was not used as the projectile was predicted to land in an unpopulated area.
There were no special instructions for residents following the rocket fire.
The attack came after four Palestinians, at least two of whom were members of terror groups, were shot dead Thursday by undercover Israeli forces during a daytime raid in the West Bank city of Jenin.
Yusuf Shreim, 29, a member of the military wing of the Hamas terror group, and Nidal Khazem, 28, a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, were targeted in the operation.
شهداء #جنين عصر اليوم
نضال خازم ويوسف شريم وهما من قيادات المقاومة في المدينة والطفل عمر عوادينقاوما معاً.. وارتقيا معاً pic.twitter.com/slF5bk5t7S
— رضا ياسين Reda Yasen (@RedaYasen2021) March 16, 2023
Islamic Jihad had vowed to respond to what it branded a “cowardly assassination.”
Over the past year, Gaza-based groups — notably Islamic Jihad — have repeatedly launched rockets at Israel in response to members being killed or arrested in the West Bank.
The military was expected to respond to the rocket attack on Saturday.
Last week, a rocket launched from the Gaza Strip in response to a deadly Israeli West Bank raid landed in Israeli territory close to the border security barrier. Several hours later, Palestinians set off an explosive device near troops operating on the border.
There was no response to the rocket attack, but the IDF struck a Hamas observation post following the border bombing.
Tensions between Israel and the Palestinians have been high for the past year, with the IDF conducting near-nightly raids in the West Bank amid a series of deadly Palestinian terror attacks. Those tensions have ramped up even further in recent weeks, featuring a cycle of deadly Israeli raids and Palestinian revenge attacks, as well as an uptick in settler violence.
Palestinian terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank in recent months have left 14 Israelis dead and several more seriously hurt.
At least 85 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the year, most of them while carrying out attacks or during clashes with security forces, but some were uninvolved civilians and others were killed under circumstances that are being investigated.
