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Army: Rocket Fired from Gaza Lands on Southern Israel

A rocked fired on Israel. Reuters file photo
A rocked fired on Israel. Reuters file photo
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Army: Rocket Fired from Gaza Lands on Southern Israel

A rocked fired on Israel. Reuters file photo
A rocked fired on Israel. Reuters file photo

The Israeli military said Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired a rocket toward southern Israel Saturday evening.

The rocket fell and exploded in an open area, triggering warning sirens in the Nahal Oz community to the east of Gaza City.

There were no reports of casualties or damage. The Israeli military usually responds to such rocket fire with airstrikes in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, raising the possibility of further violence just ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The rocket attack comes a day before Israeli and Palestinian officials are set to meet in Egypt in a US-backed effort to defuse violence that has soared especially in the West Bank and east Jerusalem for nearly a year.

The meeting in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh is a follow-up to last month’s meeting in Jordan for the same purpose. However, deadly Israeli raids in the West Bank and Palestinian attacks continued since the Feb. 26 meeting in Aqaba. Twenty-three Palestinians and three Israelis have been killed in the ongoing bloodshed since then.

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Israeli Settlers Briefly Crossed into Lebanon, the Military Says

UN "blue line" notifications are pictured near the Lebanese-Israeli border as seen from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, Lebanon October 14, 2022. (Reuters)
UN "blue line" notifications are pictured near the Lebanese-Israeli border as seen from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, Lebanon October 14, 2022. (Reuters)
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Israeli Settlers Briefly Crossed into Lebanon, the Military Says

UN "blue line" notifications are pictured near the Lebanese-Israeli border as seen from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, Lebanon October 14, 2022. (Reuters)
UN "blue line" notifications are pictured near the Lebanese-Israeli border as seen from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, Lebanon October 14, 2022. (Reuters)

A group of Israeli settlers have briefly crossed the border into Lebanon before they were removed by troops, the military acknowledged Wednesday.

The civilians who crossed the border came from the Uri Tzafon movement, a group calling for Israeli settlement of southern Lebanon. Photos posted by the group online Saturday showed a small group of activists holding signs and erecting tents inside Lebanon while Israeli soldiers were present.

After first denying the reports to Israeli media, the military said Wednesday that civilians had crossed the border “by a few meters” and were removed by troops.

The military called the border breach a “serious incident” and said it was investigating.

“Any attempt to approach or cross the border into Lebanese territory without coordination poses a life-threatening risk and interferes with the IDF’s ability to operate in the area and carry out its mission,” the military said, using the acronym for the Israel Defense Forces.

The settler group Uri Tzafon, which means “Awaken the North” in Hebrew, crossed the border in the area of the Lebanese village of Maroun al-Ras. In the past, the movement has said the area is home to an old Hebrew settlement.

Groups of settler activists also have breached the Gaza border more than once since the Israel-Hamas war erupted on Oct. 7, 2023, at one point erecting small wooden tents before they were evacuated by troops. Daniela Weiss, the leader of the movement to resettle Gaza, claims she has entered Gaza twice since the start of the war.

Israel’s settler movement has been emboldened by its current government -- the furthest-right in Israeli history -- and is now seeking to expand to parts of southern Lebanon and the north of the Gaza.