ISIS affiliate in Egypt claims rocket fire toward Israel

Sinai Province group makes statement on social media claiming projectiles that exploded in open Israeli territory earlier Friday.

By REUTERS
Updated: JULY 3, 2015 22:43
Islamic State-affiliated Sinai Province fighters in the Sinai Peninsula (photo credit: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/ARAB MEDIA)
Islamic State-affiliated Sinai Province fighters in the Sinai Peninsula
(photo credit: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/ARAB MEDIA)
CAIRO - Islamic State's Egypt affiliate, Sinai Province, said on Friday in a statement posted on Twitter by supporters that it had launched three Grad rockets towards "occupied Palestine."
Israeli police said earlier they had found rocket remnants in an open area. No damage or casualties resulted.
An IDF source said the missile was launched from the Sinai Peninsula bordering Israel and Gaza. In statement made earlier Friday, Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu also asserted that the day's rocket attack had emanated from the Sinai region.
The projectile attack caused 'code red' sirens to sound in communities in Israel's southern Eshkol Regional Council.
On Wednesday, members of the Sinai Province group launched their biggest assault in years against Egyptian security forces. Dozens of people have been killed in the past few days of clashes.
The IDF on Friday closed a southern highway, part of which runs along the Egyptian border, as a safety precaution.
Militants have in the past fired rockets from Sinai into Israel.
Israel has accused Hamas, the Islamist group which controls Gaza, of helping Islamic State in Sinai, an allegation Hamas, denies.
Jpost.com Staff contributed to this report.