Rocket sirens triggered in Sderot, Sha’ar Hanegev in false alarm

Alarm comes amid relative calm along the border following reported ceasefire; earlier, Hamas fires rocket into sea in test

By Judah Ari Gross 3 July 2019, 8:02 am

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

Thai foreign workers standing in a mobile bomb shelter at Moshav Beit HaGadi in the Southern Israel on August 20, 2014. (Edi Israel/Flash90)

Illustrative: Thai foreign workers stand in a mobile bomb shelter at Moshav Beit HaGadi in the Southern Israel on August 20, 2014. (Edi Israel/Flash90)

Incoming rocket sirens blared in the communities of Sderot and Ibim on Wednesday morning in what the military said was a false alarm.

The alarms came hours after the Gaza-ruling Hamas terror group launched a rocket out to sea in a weapons test.

The sirens sounded at approximately 7:15 a.m. on Wednesday, sending the thousands of residents of Sderot and the nearby Ibim, in the Sha’ar Hanegev region, rushing to bomb shelters.

Southern Israeli communities are regularly targeted by rockets fired by Gaza terrorist groups. The last major flareup between Israel and armed Gaza in groups was in May, when hundreds of rockets were fired at towns and cities in southern Israel.

Monday morning also saw a false alarm, in which sirens sounded in Kibbutz Nahal Oz, near the Gaza border.

The sirens came days after an unofficial truce mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations went into force. The ceasefire deal, which was reported to take effect last Friday, emphasized calm in exchange for Israeli measures to improve living conditions in the blockaded Palestinian enclave.

Last month, the IDF announced it was rolling out a more accurate incoming rocket alert system for the country.