Terrorists fired a missile at Eilat shortly before 1 a.m. on Tuesday morning, triggering an air raid siren and activating the Iron Dome anti-rocket battery, which is stationed at the Red Sea city.
The Iron Dome system intercepted at least one missile, according to initial IDF assessments. The incident marked the first time that Iron Dome has ever intercepted a rocket fired at Eilat.
It is unknown at this stage whether additional rockets fell in open areas outside of the city.
Residents reported hearing the siren and a number of blasts.
A jihadist group known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis claimed credit for launching numerous Grad missiles toward Eilat late Monday night, Channel 10 reported.
“This was a response to the latest crimes by the Jews, who used a drone to attack and kill four of our fighters in Sinai,” the organization said. “The fighters managed to bomb occupied ‘Um Rashrash’ [as Eilat is known in Arabic], with Grad missiles. The attack sowed fear among the criminal Jews, who were forced into underground bomb shelters.”
The attack comes days after the Sinai-based terrorist organization said an Israel drone fired a missile and killed four of its members who were plotting to fire a rocket at Israel.
“Our heroes became martyrs during their jihadi duties against the Jews in a rocket attack on occupied lands,” the Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis organization said on a jihadist website.
Five security sources told Reuters that Israel carried out the attack, but the Egyptian armed forces officially denied that was the case.
Israeli security officials remained quiet over the incident.
Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis criticized the Egyptian military for what it called its repeated cooperation with Israel.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon issued a statement on Saturday stressing that Jerusalem “respects Egypt’s full sovereignty.” Israel is aware of Egypt’s stepped-up activities to combat terrorism in Sinai, and the “Egyptian army is fighting first and foremost to protect Egyptian civilians, as well as Egyptian sovereignty,” he said. “We will not allow rumors and speculation, as they developed over the past 24 hours, to harm the peace agreement.”
The Jerusalem Post has the full article
(Photo: Wikipedia)
