Rocket from Gaza lands in open area in Negev; no injuries reported

By ANNA AHRONHEIM
Updated: MARCH 15, 2017 22:52
A rocket is launched from the northern Gaza Strip towards Israel (photo credit: REUTERS)
A rocket is launched from the northern Gaza Strip towards Israel
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The army confirmed that a rocket launched from the Gaza Strip landed in southern Israel Wednesday night.
There was no damage or injuries and no siren sounded as the rocket landed in open territory in the Negev, the IDF spokesperson’s unit said.
Tensions between Israel and the Gaza Strip had been high as of late, with a false alert ringing in the Eshkol regional council just days after a failed rocket attack by the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade,a faction of the Palestinian Fatah party's armed wing in the Gaza Strip.
While there have been around 20 rockets launched in 2016 towards Israel from the Gaza Strip, five rocket have been launched at Israel within the last month, including two incidents by the Islamic State Group in Sinai.
Most of them have been claimed by small jihadist groups, many times as a means for pressuring Hamas by raising tensions between the terror organization and Israel. Hamas has cracked down on these small groups, recently carrying out a wave of arrests among Salafi, jihadist, pro-Islamic State organizations.
Israel holds Hamas responsible for all fire coming from the coastal enclave.