Rocket from Gaza hits southern Israel

Air raid sirens sounded in southern Israeli communities adjacent to the Gaza Strip after midnight on Saturday, following a day of deadly clashes between IDF troops and Palestinians along the border.

Rocket warnings were heard in the communities of Nir Yitzhak, Holit and Talmei Yosef.

The IDF said one rocket exploded in the Eshkol region in southern Israel, which borders the Gaza Strip and Egypt. No injuries or damage were reported. Troops were on site searching for the projectile.

A Gaza-based jihadist group claiming affiliation with the Islamic State organization claimed responsibility for the attack shortly afterwards.

Update: Initial reports suggest a rocket landed in open area in southern Israel. Forces are conducting searches in the area

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— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 9, 2015

At least six Palestinians from the Gaza Strip were killed and 19 hurt when IDF soldiers opened fire on a crowd of protesters from Hamas and Islamic Jihad as they approached the border fence with Israel on Friday, Gaza medics said.

In a separate incident around midnight, a Palestinian man was seriously injured in a shootout with Israeli police officers in the Shuafat refugee camp. Stones, Molotov cocktails and a pipe bomb were thrown at Border Police officers who responded to riots in the area north of Jerusalem. When they were fired upon, the officers fired at and injured a Palestinian man.

A knife and bullets were found on his person, Ynet reported. The man was taken to Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus for treatment.

The IDF also shot a Palestinian man armed with a knife who reportedly attempted to enter the West Bank settlement of Negohot, north of Hebron. The man received treatment on site, according to Ynet, but his condition wasn’t reported.