Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired a rocket at Israel on Monday night, triggering warning sirens in Israeli communities across the border. The Israel Defense Forces said an Iron Dome air-defense battery successfully intercepted the projectile in mid-air.
There were no reports of injuries or damages.
It was the first Gazan rocket attack against Israel in seven months, according to a report Kan News. The report cited Arab sources as assessing that Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the second-largest terror faction in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, is behind the attack.
The report added that Hamas sent messages to “mediators” stating that it has no interest in an escalation with Israel and that it was not behind the rocket attack. According to Hamas’s claims, the organization is searching for those who fired the rocket.
On Sunday, rocket alerts sounded in the same area, but the IDF said that was a false alarm.
Until now, Gaza has remained out of the security escalation in Israel and the West Bank. Earlier on Monday, Israeli security forces said it conducted counter-terrorism activities “in a number of locations in Judea and Samaria overnight, adding that “11 terror suspects were apprehended.”
Two Palestinian gunmen were seriously injured in an exchange of fire in the town of Al-Yamun, near Jenin, said a Palestinian report. The IDF said that during an arrest operation there, dozens of Palestinian rioters hurled rocks and explosive devices at soldiers, and fire live ammunition at them.
“The soldiers responded with live ammunition towards the suspects who hurled explosive devices. Hits were identified,” said the IDF.
