Rockets from Egypt strike Israeli resort
Source: Agencies |
April 18, 2013, Thursday
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TWO rockets fired from Egypt's Sinai peninsula struck Israel's Red Sea resort of Eilat yesterday, but caused no casualties or damage, the Israeli military said, in an attack claimed by Islamist militants.
The incident was likely to fuel Israeli concerns about lawlessness in neighboring Sinai, where militant groups have stepped up their activities since Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's downfall in 2011.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said two rockets were launched from Sinai and that both hit open areas. The Islamist militant group Magles Shoura al-Mujahddin said in a statement it had targeted Eilat with two Grad missiles and then withdrew safely.
Egyptian security sources said the rockets had probably been fired from Sinai.
The group shares the same ideology as al-Qaida and its recruits include Egyptians and Palestinians.
It said it was retaliating for what it described as Israel's attack on protesters demonstrating over a Palestinian prisoner's death.
Two weeks ago, Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian youth in the occupied West Bank during confrontations with protesters angered by the death in prison from cancer of 64-year-old Maysara Abu Hamdeya. Palestinian officials said he had been denied timely medical care. Israel denied any negligence.
Israel deployed an Iron Dome anti-rocket battery in Eilat some two weeks ago, a period coinciding with the Jewish Passover holiday when the city at is packed with vacationers.
But yesterday, the system did not intercept the incoming missiles "for operational reasons," the spokeswoman said.
The incident was likely to fuel Israeli concerns about lawlessness in neighboring Sinai, where militant groups have stepped up their activities since Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's downfall in 2011.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said two rockets were launched from Sinai and that both hit open areas. The Islamist militant group Magles Shoura al-Mujahddin said in a statement it had targeted Eilat with two Grad missiles and then withdrew safely.
Egyptian security sources said the rockets had probably been fired from Sinai.
The group shares the same ideology as al-Qaida and its recruits include Egyptians and Palestinians.
It said it was retaliating for what it described as Israel's attack on protesters demonstrating over a Palestinian prisoner's death.
Two weeks ago, Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian youth in the occupied West Bank during confrontations with protesters angered by the death in prison from cancer of 64-year-old Maysara Abu Hamdeya. Palestinian officials said he had been denied timely medical care. Israel denied any negligence.
Israel deployed an Iron Dome anti-rocket battery in Eilat some two weeks ago, a period coinciding with the Jewish Passover holiday when the city at is packed with vacationers.
But yesterday, the system did not intercept the incoming missiles "for operational reasons," the spokeswoman said.
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