Sirens sound in south in false alarm, IDF says

Incoming rocket sirens sounded in the community of Netiv Ha’asara, north of the Gaza Strip, on Friday afternoon in what the military said was a false alarm.

These were the first sirens heard in Israeli communities since a ceasefire agreement was reached between Israel and the Gaza-ruling Hamas terror group late last month.

It was not immediately clear what triggered the alarms shortly before 2 p.m. Friday in Netiv Ha’asara.

“Regarding the reports of a siren activation, this was a false alarm,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

Last month saw regular low-level violence along the Gaza border by terror groups in the Strip, with dozens of arson attacks launched each day, as well as intermittent rocket fire. The IDF retaliated with roughly 100 retaliatory strikes on Hamas sites throughout the Strip.

A ceasefire — brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United Nations — was announced on August 31, largely ending the violence.