Envoy: Rockets were not aimed at Israel

It is estimated that the Katyusha rockets, which landed in Israel and Aqaba on Friday morning, were not aimed at Israel, envoy to Israel's embassy in Jordan Daniel Nevo told Ynet earlier.

While Jordan's Interior Minister Awni Yirfas announced on Saturday that Jordanian authorities had found the launcher that fired the three rockets from a hilltop warehouse, soldiers are still in search of those responsible for the attack.

A katyusha rocket fired from neighboring Jordan landed near the airport in the southern town of Eilat around 8:45 a.m. Friday. No injuries were reported in the attack but a car was damaged.

At about the same time, two more rockets were fired at an American ship, the USS Ashland, which was docked at the Jordanian port town of Aqaba. A military hospital was also targeted.

An Al Qaeda affiliated group, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades in Syria and Egypt, said in a statement released immediately after the attack that it was behind the rockets.

'Eilat was a mistake'

Nevo told Ynet Friday night that it is estimated Israel was not purposefully targeted.

"We have gathered information from our contacts here which points to a high probability that the targets were a battleship and American aircraft carriers, which have been anchored in Aqaba for the past week," he said.

"There has been enough time to arouse curiosity, and so our evaluation is that they were the targets and Eilat was a mistake," he said."

In response to the question whether Israelis in Eilat are in danger due to terror activity in neighboring Jordan, Nevo answered, "definitely not."

"Aqaba is flooded with security forces and police who are combing the area, which is an added protection," he said.

"The investigation is pointing to the possibility that Eilat may not have been one of the targets and that one of the shells flew off in the wrong direction," he said.

However, another belief is that it was not possible for the Katyusha to accidentally land in Eilat, as the direction of fire of all three rockets were different.  

Jordanian forces search the city

Following the attack, hundreds of police and soldiers were deployed to the Aqaba neighborhood of Shalala - which overlooks the port town - in a bid to find the perpetrators responsible.

A Jordanian security source said earlier that authorities were searching for three men in connection with the attack, which was launched from an industrial warehouse area near the entrance to the city.