The IDF spokesman confirmed Thursday that Israel fully reopened the border crossings into the Gaza Strip that were closed last week after Palestinian terrorists fired a barrage of rockets into the South on the second day of US President Barack Obama’s visit to Israel.
One projectile hit and damaged a home in Sderot. A second fell in an open area of the neighboring Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council. Initial reports spoke of four rockets, two of which were believed to have landed within the Gaza Strip.
There were no injuries.
In response to the rockets, the Kerem Shalom was closed to goods and the Erez crossing was only operational for humanitarian purposes. Additionally, newly appointed Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon restricted the fishing area to three miles from the Gaza coast and closed a cargo crossing point.
Hamas on Friday arrested two members of an Islamic jihadist organization in connection with the firing of rockets, according to Israel Radio.
The report cited Gazan sources as saying Hamas arrested two members of the Salafi Magles Shoura al-Mujahddin organization, who on Thursday claimed responsibility for firing rockets into Israel. In an Internet statement the group said it had fired the rockets to show that Israeli air defenses could not stop attacks on the Jewish state during Obama’s visit.
The US president, who was in Jerusalem, about 80 km. from Sderot, when the rockets hit, later told journalists it was up to Hamas, which controls Gaza, to stop such strikes.
“We condemn this violation of the important ceasefire that protects both Israelis and Palestinians, a violation Hamas has a responsibility to prevent,” Obama said on the next stop on his visit, in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
A police bomb squad and emergency officials arrived at the two blast zones to retrieve the projectiles and document the damage. It was the second ceasefire violation by terrorists in two months. On February 26 a rocket from the Gaza Strip struck a road south of Ashkelon, causing damage but no injuries.