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Rocket fired at southern Israel from Gaza as Egypt seeks to calm tensions
Projectile apparently lands inside Strip; sirens sound in open fields in Eshkol region, but not inside communities
Judah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel's religions and Diaspora affairs correspondent.
At least one rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip at southern Israel on Sunday night, landing inside the enclave, short of the border, the army said.
The projectile triggered sirens in the Eshkol region of southern Israel. The alarms could be heard in open fields in the region, not inside communities. Residents of the area also received alerts on their phones.
“A failed launch was spotted from the Gaza Strip. It did not cross into Israeli territory,” the army said.
The attempted rocket attack came as an Egyptian military intelligence delegation visited Gaza on Sunday in a bid to calm heightened tensions between Israel and terror groups in the Strip.
Egypt has in the past helped broker unofficial ceasefires between Israel and Hamas.
On Saturday night, Israeli jets struck three Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for Palestinian terrorists piloting a bomb-carrying drone over the border earlier in the day, the Israeli military said.
The targets, in northern and central Gaza, included an equipment depot for naval warfare, and two “military centers” for Hamas’s aerial system, the Israel Defense Forces said.
“The IDF will continue to act against attempts to harm Israeli citizens, and holds the Palestinian terror group Hamas responsible for everything that takes place in the Gaza Strip, and which emanates from there,” the military said in a statement.
Earlier Saturday, Gaza terrorists piloted an armed drone into Israel, the IDF said. It did not specify if the explosive detonated, but said a military vehicle was lightly damaged in the incident.
The IDF said it opened fire at the cell responsible for the drone. No Israeli soldiers were hurt and there were no immediate reports of Palestinian injuries.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Hamas on Saturday that Israel would respond forcefully to any attempt to harm its citizens and soldiers, following two days of violent incidents on and near the Gaza border.
“Hamas is responsible for all aggression emanating from the Gaza Strip. Any attempt to harm our citizens and our soldiers will be met with a forceful response,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
The weekend saw a string of violent incidents along the Gaza border, after several weeks of relative calm.
On Friday night, incoming rockets set off sirens in Israeli communities along the Gaza border. The IDF said it had identified five projectiles that had crossed the border into Israeli territory. Israeli artillery and aircraft attacked several military targets belonging to the Hamas terror group in the northern Gaza Strip in retaliation, the IDF said.
The exchange of fire came hours after two Palestinian teens were reportedly killed in clashes with Israeli troops along the border, in what the IDF called “especially violent” riots.
The Hamas-run health ministry identified one of those killed as 17-year-old Ali al-Ashqar. It said he was shot in the neck in the northern Gaza Strip. A second teenager was shot in the stomach east of Gaza City, the ministry said, later identifying him as Khaled al-Rabaee, 14.
The IDF had no immediate comment on the deaths, and said some 6,200 Palestinians took part in the weekly “March of Return,” including hundreds who rioted.
The riots were particularly violent and included the throwing of a large number of explosive devices, hand grenades and firebombs at the fence and IDF soldiers, the army said, adding that there were extensive attempts to damage the border barrier.
The deadly clashes came just days after Israel lifted restrictions on fuel deliveries to Gaza, a week after curbing them by half due to rocket and mortar fire from the coastal enclave.
Since the outbreak of protests on the Gaza border last year, Israel has intermittently taken a number of steps to stem outbreaks of violence from the coastal territory, such as closing border crossings, cutting fuel shipments, and reducing the permitted fishing area off the coast of the Strip. It has rolled back such moves following decreases in violence.
A deal was brokered several months ago by UN and Egyptian officials to end several violent flare-ups in recent months between Israel and Hamas, which have fought three devastating wars since 2008, and to help stabilize the territory and prevent a humanitarian collapse.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
