Rockets fired from Gaza into Israel after Biden’s visit
Jerusalem, July 15 (EFE).- Suspected Palestinian militants fired two rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israeli territory on Saturday, the Israeli military said, amid United States President Joe Biden’s first Middle East tour.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it intercepted one of the rockets, but the second hit the ground without causing any damage to human lives or properties.
“Terrorists in Gaza just fired 2 rockets toward Israeli civilians. One of the rockets was intercepted by the IDF Aerial Defense Array,” the IDF tweeted.
The military said the rocket siren was sounded in the city of Ashkelon and the area surrounding the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian enclave controlled by the Hamas militant group.
Ashkelon is an Israeli city near the Gaza Strip, on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv.
An online video also shared by the IDF showed one of the rockets intercepted by the Iron Dome Air Defense System.
No Palestinian group immediately claimed responsibility for the rocket attack.
Israel usually holds Hamas responsible for all rockets fired from Gaza.
The last time rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel was on June 18. That attack is believed to have been launched by Palestinian Islamic Jihad in response to the death of three Palestinians in a shootout with Israeli troops a day earlier.
The latest rocket attack came hours after President Biden’s stopover in Israel during his three-day Middle East trip that also took him to Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia announced it would end strict limits on Israeli commercial flights flying over its territory.
Before embarking on his Saudi tour, Biden visited the West Bank to meet with Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, sparking protests in the Gaza Strip, Ramallah, and Nablus.
The Palestinian issue was not a priority on Biden’s agenda during the trip,
The president did not present a plan to reactivate peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis.
On Thursday, the Israeli government showed Biden the operation of “Iron Dome” and the prototype of a high-powered laser interception system dubbed Iron Beam, which is still in development. EFE
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