A Muslim Salafist group said Tuesday that it had fired rockets at Israel's southernmost city of Eilat overnight and said it was in retaliation for an alleged IAF missile strike on its men last Friday.
The jihadist Ansar Bait el Maqdas, which operates in Sinai, took responsibility for firing the rockets and said, “The response is to the latest crime committed by the Jews, who used a UAV to attack and killed four fighters in Sinai.”
"The fighters succeeded in bombing occupied Umm Rashrash, Eilat, with Grad missiles,” the group announced. “The attack put fear in the hearts of the criminal Jews, who ran to underground shelters,” it added. “Eilat and the Israeli cities will not enjoy peace, tourism or the economy. The Jews will pay a heavy price.”
Ansar Bait El Maqdas had vowed revenge Saturday after four of its members were killed Friday as they prepared to launch a missile at Israel. The group claimed the men had members belonged to Sinai tribes, and had been killed by Israeli drones.
Egypt's military denied on Friday that there had been any Israeli strikes inside Egyptian territory, and Israel dismissed the report that it was involved in the attack as “rumors.”
Voice of Israel public radio reported Tuesday that terrorists attacked several Egyptian army positions in the early morning hours. They fired several rockets, one of which exploded not far from an Egyptian military installation.
A leader of the National Salvation Front in Egypt, which led to the ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood from power, said that the terrorists in Sinai are conducting a war of attrition against the Egyptian state and that these groups must be eliminated immediately.
At least one rocket was fired towards the Israeli resort city of Eilat on Monday night. The Iron Dome anti-missile system, which was just recently deployed near Eilat, reportedly intercepted the rocket before it could explode in a populated area.