Rocket salvos hit southern Israel

Nine rockets were fired at Israel from the northern Gaza Strip Wednesday afternoon, landing in open fields near Sderot and in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. One of the rockets landed in Palestinian territory.

The first six rockets were fired shortly after 4 pm, while the seventh landed within the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council about two hours later. At approximately 7:15 pm two Qassam rockets landed near a chicken coop in a western Negev kibbutz.

No injuries were reported in the attacks.

The Islamic Jihad's al-Quds Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack.

Police officials said that the landing site of one of the rockets has not been located yet, and warned that the proximity of the explosion to Ashkelon may indicate that it might be an improved Qassam or a Grad rocket.

The rocket alert system in Ashkelon was accidentally activated Wednesday, most likely due to mechanical failure. Anxious residents flooded police hotlines with thousands of calls. No rockets landed within city limits.

The Defense Ministry placed some 120 portable cement-reinforced shelters across Sderot on Wednesday, including some units with wider entrances, designed to be accessible to the handicapped.

Earlier, three Qassams landed in open fields south of Ashkelon and within the Sdot Negev Regional Council. No injuries or damage were reported.

The national security cabinet convened Wednesday and instructed the IDF to present it with a plan for putting a complete end to rocket fire emanating from the Gaza Strip. In the past, IDF incursions into the Palestinian enclave aimed to reduce rocket attacks without totally halting them.

Shmulik Hadad contributed to the report