Occupied Palestine: An early morning rocket from the Gaza Strip struck a house in northeast of Tel Aviv on Monday, wounding seven people, an Israeli rescue service said, an attack that could set off another round of violence shortly before the Israeli election.
The sounds of air raid sirens woke up the residents of the residential Sharon area, northeast of Tel Aviv, sending them scurrying to bomb shelters. A strong sound of an explosion followed.
The Israeli military said it identified a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip. Israeli police said the rocket hit a residential home in the community of Mishmeret, north of the city of Kfar Saba, setting off a fire and destroying the house.
The military said on Twitter the rocket had been fired from the Rafah area in the southern Gaza Strip.
It announced it was sending two additional brigades to the area around the Hamas-run enclave and was carrying out a limited call up of reservists.
"The launch was carried out by Hamas from one of its positions in the Rafah area," Israeli army spokesman Ronen Manelis said.
The rocket would have had to travel some 120 kilometres rom Rafah to hit the house in the community of Mishmeret.
It has raised fears of a severe military escalation between the two sides just ahead of April 9 Israeli elections
Netanyahu cuts US visit short
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is cutting Washington visit short after Gaza rocket attack on Israel
"I have decided, due to the security incidents, to cut short my visit to the United States. I will meet President (Donald) Trump in a few hours and just after that I will return to Israel to lead closely the operations," Netanyahu said in a video released by his office.
The Magen David Adom rescue service said it was treating seven people, including two women who were moderately wounded. The others, including two children and an infant, had minor wounds.
Hamas had so far not commented on Israel's accusations.
Earlier, its ally in Gaza Islamic Jihad said "we warn the Zionist enemy from committing an aggression against the Gaza Strip".
"Their leaders should be aware that we will respond with force against their aggression," it said in a statement, without commenting on who may have been responsible for the rocket.
The attack comes 10 days after rockets were fired toward Israel's densely populated commercial capital of Tel Aviv. The Israeli military at the time struck back in Gaza and the sides appeared to be hurtling toward another confrontation. But Gaza's Hamas leaders said the rocket was fired accidently and calm was quickly restored.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility to Monday's attack.
