IDF says rocket alert sirens in Gaza frontier communities were false alarms

Alarms send residents running for shelter in Eshkol Regional Council; IDF won't confirm report that rocket tests in Gaza set off the sirens.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Some Israelis take cover as others look on as sirens indicating rockets being fired to the area are heard on a lookout hill near Sderot, opposite the northern Gaza Strip. (photo credit: REUTERS)
Some Israelis take cover as others look on as sirens indicating rockets being fired to the area are heard on a lookout hill near Sderot, opposite the northern Gaza Strip.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Two red alert rocket warning sirens that eventually proved to be false alarms sent residents of a number of Gaza border communities running for shelters on Sunday morning.
The alarms which rang out in a number of communities in the Eshkol Regional Council area were heard at about 8:25 a.m.
After checking the source of the alarms, the IDF stated that no rockets were fired from Gaza at southern Israel.
Channel 2 reported that military sources said the false alarms were likely caused by rocket tests in Gaza, however the IDF Spokesman's Office did not confirm the report.
On September 18, five sirens went off in the Ashkelon Coast region and the Sha’ar Hanegev region, sending locals fleeing for cover in scenes reminiscent of the 50-day war this summer with Hamas.
The IDF later said all of the sirens were false alarms, possibly set off by small arms fire in Gaza.
Speaking in the South at a meeting of the Kibbutz Movement at the time, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon vowed that Israel will “not allow [projectile] fire, which is mistakenly called a drizzle, to return to your routine. We do not intend to compromise on that. Our obligation to you is to prevent Hamas and other terrorist organizations from disrupting your lives through the firing of rockets and mortars, or through infiltrations, above ground or through tunnels, which we dealt with before and during the operation through a variety of effective ways, from the air and ground.”
Yaakov Lappin contributed to this report.