JERUSALEM:Rocket alert sirens sounded on Thursday in Israeli communities near the border with the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said.
There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. The alert came shortly after Israeli army radio reported unspecified Israeli military activity near the border with the Palestinian enclave.
Rocket attacks by Palestinian militants in the Hamas Islamist-run Gaza Strip have tailed off in recent weeks as Egypt has tried to mediate a long-term ceasefire with Israel.
But tensions have remained high along the Israel-Gaza border, where Palestinians have been mounting protests that have included attempts to breach a security fence.
Israeli forces have killed at least 195 Palestinians since the protests began in March, Gaza medics say, and one Israeli soldier has been killed.
Citing security reasons, Israel and Egypt maintain tight restrictions on their borders with Gaza, a policy that has deepened economic hardship in the territory of two million Palestinians.
Rocket alert sirens sound in Israeli communities near Gaza frontier
Rocket alert sirens sound in Israeli communities near Gaza frontier
UN chief says those behind ‘unacceptable’ Homs attack must face justice
- France says the "terror" attack is designed to destabilize the country
UNITED NATIONS/PARIS: United Nations chief Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the deadly attack on Friday prayers at a mosque in the Syrian city of Homs, and said the perpetrators should be brought to justice.
“The Secretary-General reiterates that attacks against civilians and places of worship are unacceptable. He stresses that those responsible must be identified and brought to justice,” spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
The explosion killed at least eight worshippers at a mosque in a predominantly Alawite area of Homs, with an Islamist militant group claiming responsibility.
France also condemned the attack, calling it an “act of terrorism” designed to destabilize the country.
The attack “is part of a deliberate strategy aimed at destabilizing Syria and the transition government,” the French foreign ministry said in a statement.
It condemned what it said was an attempt to “compromise ongoing efforts to bring peace and stability.”
The attack, during Friday prayers, was the second blast in a place of worship since Islamist authorities took power a year ago, after a suicide bombing in a Damascus church killed 25 people in June.
In a statement on Telegram, the extremist group Saraya Ansar Al-Sunna said its fighters “detonated a number of explosive devices” in the Imam Ali Bin Abi Talib Mosque in the central Syrian city.
