BICOM

A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed overnight in an open field in southern Israel. It follows a weekend attack in which a rocket from Gaza landed in Sderot and another was aimed at Ashkelon.

The IDF said that the rocket fired last night landed in an open field in the Hof Ashkelon region. There were no injuries and no damage was caused. Air raid sirens were not sounded as the rocket was destined to land harmlessly. Military search teams were despatched to locate the missile itself.

However, last night’s rocket attack followed a more serious flurry of fire on Friday night. For the first time since last summer’s Operation Protective Edge, the town of Sderot was hit by a Gaza missile. A bus was hit by the rocket, while a home was also damaged and several people were treated in hospital for shock. An additional Gaza rocket heading for Ashkelon was intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system.

The weekend attacks are at least the sixth time that Gaza rockets have been fired into Israel since May. Like the previous attacks, which have included a Grad rocket which landed near Ashdod, responsibility for Friday’s fire was claimed by the radical Salafist group the Omar Brigade, which is sympathetic towards ISIS. The group has made clear that the attacks serve a dual purpose – Targeting Israelis while challenging Hamas’s authority in Gaza.

The IDF responded to Friday’s rockets with an air strike on a Hamas training camp in the northern Gaza Strip. No injuries were reported. An IDF statement said, “The terrorist group Hamas is the sovereign [in Gaza], and it carries the responsibility” for such attacks.

Meanwhile, opposition leader, Zionist Union head Isaac Herzog said in response to the attacks, “Israeli citizens’ lack of security is an unacceptable and grave reality. We all deserve security in Jerusalem, Sderot and everywhere in the country.” He called on the government to “carry out a strike on terror.”