IDF: Rocket sirens in southern Israel sounded as false alarm

Residents in the area reported of hearing explosions, and it remained unclear if blasts had occurred in the Palestinian territory.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, ANNA AHRONHEIM
Updated: FEBRUARY 28, 2017 17:59
Light streak trail is seen as a rocket is launched from the northern Gaza Strip towards Israel July 29, 2014 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Light streak trail is seen as a rocket is launched from the northern Gaza Strip towards Israel July 29, 2014
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The IDF confirmed that rocket alert sirens that sounded in southern Israeli communities near the Gaza border on Tuesday evening were activated as false alarms.
Rocket alert sirens sounded in southern Israel's Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council and the Sdot Negev Regional Council during the incident.
Residents in the area reported of hearing explosions, and it remained unclear if blasts had occurred in the Palestinian territory.
Shortly before the sirens sounded, the State Comptroller issued his long-awaited report on the 2014 Gaza war, in which over 4,000 rockets were fired on the home front – paralyzing the South and briefly halting flights at Ben-Gurion Airport.
Tuesday's incident came after a previous rocket attack struck open territory in Israel's western Negev region in the early hours of Monday.
In response to that strike, IAF jets struck multiple Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, as Israel holds the terror group responsible for all fire emanating from the coastal Palestinian enclave.
There have been several rockets launched from Gaza in February, including two incidents when the Islamic State group fired a barrage of rockets from Sinai toward the southern city of Eilat, three of which were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system, while a fourth landed in open territory.
A previous version of this report erroneously stated that projectiles had struck Israeli territory.