BICOM

Two rockets fired from the Gaza Strip landed in the Eshkol region late last night. No injuries or damage were reported.

The rockets were thought to have struck at around 11pm (local time) yesterday evening. However, Israeli media reports say that the Code Red public warning siren was not sounded. Although this latest rocket salvo did not cause major disruption, it follows on swiftly from the rocket attack which struck Eilat, Israel’s southernmost city, on Wednesday. One rocket fell in the vicinity of an Eilat home, causing light damage, while another landed in an open area. A Salafi Islamist group, the Mujahedeen Shura Council, based in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, later claimed responsibility for the attack on Eilat.

Last night’s incident follows an increase over the past month in rocket attacks on southern Israel from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. During US President Obama’s visit to the region last month, two Kassam rockets landed in the southern Israeli town of Sderot, causing damage to a private residence. It was the first time that rockets had impacted a residential area since a cease fire brought an end to Operation Pillar of Defence in November, during which Israel sought stop an increased rate of rocket fire from Gaza on Israeli population centres. Several further rockets landed near Sderot and in the Eshkol region just two weeks ago.

Earlier this week, Israel’s Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon warned against sporadic fire targeted against Israel saying, “Hezbollah and Hamas are armed with tens of thousands of various rockets and missiles, which they will launch at our cities and citizens when ordered to do so,” commenting that “We will not tolerate such incidents.”