Two rockets fired from Gaza at Tel Aviv, say reports

No immediate reports of damage or casualties as witnesses report several explosions

An Iron Dome rocket interceptor battery deployed near central Gaza Strip, southern Israel. Photograph: Amir Cohen/Reuters
An Iron Dome rocket interceptor battery deployed near central Gaza Strip, southern Israel. Photograph: Amir Cohen/Reuters

Two rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip at the Tel Aviv area on Thursday, setting off sirens, and several explosions were heard, the Israeli military and witnesses said.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. Video broadcast on Israeli TV showed two Israeli interceptor missiles streaking into the sky above Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial capital, and detonating.

Reuters journalists heard explosions, but it was unclear whether they were caused by the rockets or the interceptor missiles fired by Israel’s Iron Dome system.

The military said two rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip and it would provide further details later. There was no immediate claim of responsibility in the enclave, where its dominant Hamas group has been engaged in talks with Egypt on a long-term ceasefire with Israel.

Tensions have been high for the past year along the Israel-Gaza frontier since Palestinians began protests near Israel’s border fence that have often drawn a lethal response from the Israeli military. – Reuters

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