Hamas machine gun fire on Israeli fighter jet triggers rocket sirens

JTA

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Rocket alerts sounded throughout southern Israel, triggered by Hamas machine gun fire.

The alarms began sounding after midnight between Wednesday and Thursday, sending residents of Gaza border area communities to bomb shelters.

The alarms were triggered in the wake of an Israel Air Force strike on a Hamas military site in Gaza, in response to the explosive device that was detonated against an IDF engineering vehicle, according to the IDF. A Hamas cell fired machine guns at an Israeli fighter jet participating in the Gaza attack, which set off the alarms.

Some of the machine gun fire hit a house in the Shaar Hanegev regional council, damaging the roof. There were no injuries or deaths reported. The gunfire did not hit the fighter jets.

Palestinian media said one man was killed and one injured in the airstrike.

It is the second time in two weeks that Hamas gunfire has triggered the Code Red missile alert system.