Israel rocket attack: Six wounded north of Tel Aviv

A rocket fired from Gaza struck a home in central Israel on Monday wounding six people.

The sounds of air raid sirens woke up the residents of the residential Sharon area and a strong sound of an explosion followed. The Israeli military said it identified a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip and was investigating.

Police and medics said a home was hit and caught fire, and six people were wounded.

The incident in Mishmeret, an agricultural settlement town north of Tel Aviv, came at a time of high tension ahead of the anniversary of Gaza border protests and an April 9 election campaign in Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is seeking a fifth term in next month’s ballot, cut his visit to Washington short after the rocket attack.

The incident also comes 10 days after rockets were fired towards Tel Aviv. Gaza’s Hamas leaders said they were fired accidentally.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Monday’s incident. Explosions were heard in central Israel as air raid sirens wailed.

Israel’s ambulance service said it was treating six of the building’s occupants for wounds.

Gaza has been under control of Hamas since 2007. The group won a decisive victory in parliamentary elections a year before, but western governments, including the European Union and the United States refused to recognise their win.

In June 2007, Hamas fought against a preemptive coup by its rivals Fatah, which control the Palestinian Authority, resulting in driving them out of the strip.

The same summer saw Israel and Egypt impose an ongoing land, naval and air blockade on the coastal enclave. Israel has also waged three offensives on Gaza since December 2008. The last such offensive was in 2014, in which more than 2,000 Palestinians – the majority of them civilians – were killed.

The 52-day war also severely damaged Gaza’s already weak infrastructure, leading the United Nations to state that the strip would be “uninhabitable” in by 2020.

SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies