The Color Red rocket alert siren activated Monday afternoon in the southern Israeli Eshkol region – but it was a false alarm.
Residents who heard the siren went racing to safe spaces and bomb shelters anyway, since activation of the alert provides only a 15-second warning before the impact of a rocket in the area.
In this case, no explosion was heard in the usual amount of time following the alert, leading residents to believe the siren may have been a false alarm.
Nevertheless, security personnel fanned out to scan the area, searching for possible unexploded ordnance.
Just three days ago, Gaza terrorists opened fire at an IDF patrol traveling through the Sha’ar HaNegev region in southern Israel.
Although it was the first such incident since the end of Israel’s Pillar of Defense counter terrorism operation last November, the gunfire actually marked the second violation of the cease fire in less than a week.
Last Tuesday Gaza-based Palestinian Authority terrorists launched a rocket attack on southern Israel, aiming at the southern Mediterranean coastal city of Ashkelon. A medium-range rocket struck the industrial zone at the southern edge of the city, but caused no physical injuries. A second missile landed in an open field on the outskirts of the city.