The two Grad rockets fired at the southern resort city Eilat last week were likely fired by a terrorist cell originating from Gaza and operating at the Sinai peninsula, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday.
The prime minister vowed to respond to the attack. "We will not accept this, we will exact a price," Netanyahu said. "This has been our consistent policy in the last four years and we will use it now as well," he added.
A Salafi jihadist group claimed responsibility for the attack on Wednesday morning.
“The lions of the Mujahedeen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem managed to target occupied Eilat with two Grad rockets on the morning of April 17, and withdrew safely,” a statement posted on jihadist websites said.
The rockets exploded in open territory, causing no injuries or damage. One projectile fell in a building site.
Security forces later tracked down the rocket remains, directing their searches in accordance with where residents heard blasts. Photographs taken shortly after the blasts showed plumes of white smoke rising from the impact sites.