Qassam (archives)
Photo: Ze'ev Trachtman
The relative calm along Israel's border with Gaza was violated Thursday evening when a Qassam fired from the northern part of the Hamas-ruled territory landed in an open area within the limits of the Ashkelon Beach Regional Council. There were no reports of injury or damage.
The "Color Red" alert was activated shortly before the Qassam exploded.
A rocket landed in the same area about a week-and-a-half ago, but there were no injuries or damage in that attack either.
A few hours after the attack the Israeli Air Force launched an air strike near the smuggling tunnels in south Gaza.
"The army sees Hamas as being solely responsible for the goings on in Gaza," the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said in a statement. There were no reports of injury from the Palestinians.
Last month the Hamas government in Gaza convened the armed Palestinian factions and demanded that they halt the rocket fire so as "not to give Israel an excuse to escalate its military activity."