Rocket alert sirens sound near Gaza border

According to unconfirmed reports a possible interception was made by the Iron Dome missile defense system over Netivot.

Rocket fired from the Gaza Strip toward Israel. [File] (photo credit: REUTERS)
Rocket fired from the Gaza Strip toward Israel. [File]
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system fired interceptors over what the IDF said was a false alarm on Thursday morning.
“An interceptor missile was fired from the Iron Dome system as a result of an incorrect identification,” the army said in a statement, adding that “there were no launches from the Gaza Strip toward Israeli territory.”
The Code Red rocket alert siren blared throughout communities in the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council, Sdot Negev Regional Council and in the city of Netivot at 10:07 AM.
The border area with the Gaza Strip has been tense in recent months and the sirens were activated just hours after the military closed several road near the Gaza Strip border due to IDF activity in the area.
Gazans have been taking part in violent demonstrations along the border fence every evening in the past few weeks, throwing explosive devices, grenades and stones at IDF troops and burning tires.
Nearly 200 Palestinians have been killed and thousands others wounded since the outbreak of the Gaza border protests which began on March 30 and which call for an end of the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Palestinians have also been launching incendiary aerial devices into southern Israel from the coastal enclave, burning more than 2,800 hectares of agricultural fields, forests and nature reserves.