Terrorist rocket fired at Eilat intercepted by Iron Dome

Police searching the area for remnants after the 2nd Sinai attack on Israel’s southern vacation city this month.

 

An Iron Dome battery deployed near the southern city of Eilat intercepted on Friday a rocket fired from Sinai.

Iron Dome

Iron Dome intercepting rocket launches.- Photo:Eyal Toueg

There were no reports of damage or injuries.

Rocket alert sirens went off on Friday evening in Eilat. Residents reported hearing at least two strong blasts at around 9:40 P.M. The municipality called on residents to go into sheltered areas.

Police started combing the area to find the projectile shortly after the blasts.

A military source told Haaretz earlier this week that continued rocket fire from the Sinai Peninsula is just “a question of the capability on the part of terrorist groups” operating there.

Israeli forces earlier on Friday struck targets in the Gaza Strip hours after a rocket fired from the coastal enclave hit southern Israel, causing no damage or injuries.

A statement by the Israel Defense Forces said that Israeli planes attacked “a terror activity site,” as well as a weapons manufacturing facility and an arms warehouse. Palestinian sources said seven people were injured in the air strikes.

Friday’s rocket attack was the second time this month that projectiles from Sinai are fired from Eilat. Eleven days ago two grad rockets exploded in open areas in Eilat, despite the fact that no rocket alarm siren was heard beforehand.

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said Wednesday that “the difference between a missile hitting the sea or hitting the Meridien Hotel [in Eilat] is merely a statistical matter.”

The attack from Sinai has come during a widespread operation by the Egyptian army against terrorist groups in the region. Media outlets report that the past 24 hours in northern Sinai has seen a serious intensification of the fighting between the army and militias in the peninsula, some of whom are known and identified with Al-Qaida.

 

Jack Khoury contributed to this report.

View original HAARETZ publication at: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.571804