Times of Israel:
The Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted a rocket fired at the southern city of Ashkelon on Friday night, hours after a similar attack saw a rocket strike open land in a residential area of Sderot.
The interception was the first since last summer’s 50-day war between Israel and armed Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip.
Local residents reported hearing loud explosions in the Ashkelon area shortly before midnight. There were no injuries reported in the attack. The Israel Defense Forces were investigating whether there were any other rocket strikes on Israeli soil, Channel 10 television reported.
Shortly afterwards there were unconfirmed reports of Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip. Palestinian news outlets in the Gaza Strip reported Israeli flares over the northern area of the coastal territory.
There were no direct injuries reported in the Sderot strike, although there was some damage to property, and several people needed treatment for shock.
A Palestinian Salafist group affiliated with the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the Ashkelon rocket attack shortly after midnight. The Sheikh Omar Hadid Brigade has claimed a number of rocket attacks against Israel this year in defiance of Gaza’s Hamas rulers.
Israel Police said that a bus was damaged in the Sderot strike, while the Ynet website reported that a home was also damaged. The residents were inside at the time of the strike, Ynet said, adding that several people were treated at the scene for shock. One woman was taken to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon after complaining of chest pains and ringing in her ears, the website reported.
The sirens sounded at around 8:45 p.m. Friday night in southern Israeli communities along the Gaza border, after Israeli defenses identified two rocket launches from the coastal strip…
