Incoming rocket alert blares along Sinai border

IDF investigating cause of siren in communities close to Egypt; no reports of impact inside Israel

By Judah Ari Gross 13 December 2016, 8:52 am

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Judah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel's religions and Diaspora affairs correspondent.

Smoke rises after an airstrike in the Sinai city of Rafah as seen from Gaza on July 1, 2015. (Abed Rahim Khatib /Flash90)

An incoming rocket alert siren sounded in the central Negev, in communities near the Sinai border, on Tuesday morning, though there were no immediate reports of an impact, the army said.

The Israel Defense Forces launched a search in the area to determine if a rocket had landed in Israeli territory. No projectile was initially found.

The siren went off just after 8 a.m., in Revivim, Ezuz, Nitzana and other communities near the Egyptian border.

It appeared as though the alert system was triggered by a launch from the Sinai Peninsula that landed inside Egypt.

However, it was not clear if Israel was the target or if the system was triggered by internal fighting between Egyptian troops and an Islamic-State-affiliated terrorist group in the area.