A missile is fired from Israel's Iron Dome air defence system, designed to intercept and destroy incoming short-range rockets and artillery shells, along the Israeli-Gaza border. (AFP)
Three rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel on Sunday, the Israeli army said.
“Three launches were identified from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory,” it said in a statement. “Two of them were intercepted by the Iron Dome aerial defense system.”
One projectile fell in a wasteland, starting a fire, according to the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council.
A concert organized as part of a music festival in the town of Sderot was interrupted by a siren, a spokesperson for the municipality said.
Since the start of August, an uptick in rocket fire and Palestinian attempts to cross from Gaza into Israel have been met with Israeli strikes, threatening a fragile ceasefire between Israel and the coastal enclave’s Islamist rulers Hamas.
With less than a month to go before Israeli elections, analysts say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is keen to avoid a flare-up – despite his rivals calling for tough action against Hamas.
The movement has not claimed the latest rocket fire or infiltration attempts, but speculation has grown that militants in the blockaded enclave are hoping to pressure him into further concessions under a truce deal.
Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza have fought three wars since 2008.
