Five Rockets Fired at Southern Israel as Border Riots Continue

Reuters and Algemeiner Staff

An Iron Dome battery fires an interceptor missile as rockets are launched from Gaza toward Israel near the southern city of Sderot, Aug. 9, 2018. Photo: Reuters / Amir Cohen.

Five projectiles were launched from the Gaza Strip toward Israel late Friday night, the Israeli military confirmed after rocket warning sirens sounded in the Israeli border town of Sderot and two nearby villages shortly before midnight.

One rocket fell in an open field but there were no injuries, Israeli media reports said.

Israel responded with tank and air strikes on a number of Hamas military targets in the northern Gaza Strip, an Israeli military spokesman said. Palestinian officials said no one was injured.

At the same time, the weekly riots on the Gaza-Israel border continued, with two rioters shot by IDF forces.

An Israeli military spokesman said troops guarding the border on Friday were faced with more than 6,000 demonstrators at several points along the fence, some hurling explosive devices and firebombs.

He said that some briefly managed to cross the fence before returning to Gaza, and that Israeli forces responded with riot dispersal measures.

Egypt, Qatar, and United Nations officials have been working to keep the border calm in recent months.

Around 210 Palestinians have been killed since the riots began in March 2018, Gaza medical officials say.

In that period, an Israeli soldier was shot dead by a Palestinian sniper along the frontier, and another was killed during an Israeli undercover raid into Gaza.