Rocket from Gaza hits southern Israel
A rocket launched from the Gaza Strip exploded in open territory near the Eshkol Regional Council on Friday night (Australian time), the IDF confirmed.
The ‘red alert’ rocket siren was sounded in southern Israeli communities in the area, and residents reported of hearing explosions.
No injuries or damage were reported.
Security forces were in the vicinity conducting searches for any remains of a projectile.
The rocket landing marks the third such attack since the end of the summer conflict with Hamas.
The latest Gaza rocket landing in Israel came days after an European Union court ruled to remove Hamas from the EU’s terror list.
Former deputy defense minister Danny Danon responded to Friday’s projectile fire, saying it served as subsequent proof to Europe that Gaza’s ruling Islamist group is a terrorist organization.
“If anyone doubted this [Hamas’ status as a terror group] then they received the answer now with the [rocket] fire,” he said.
Danon also stressed that the Israeli government should respond to any violation of its sovereignty, and “not abandon the people of the South.”
In late November, multiple rockets were launched from the coastal enclave into the Mediterranean Sea.
The IDF said the launches were estimated to be experiments conducted by Gaza terrorists to upgrade their weapon capabilities.
In October also, a number of Color Red rocket-warning sirens went off in Gaza border communities, sending residents fleeing for shelter for the first time since the end of the summer’s 50-day war with Hamas.
BY YAAKOV LAPPIN and BEN HARTMAN
JPOST.COM
The rocket fired is a file photo
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