Tel Aviv On Bomb Alert

Tel Aviv residents are asked to go to bomb shelters, the VoR correspondent in Israel reports

An air raid siren went off in Tel Aviv Thursday. This was the first time the siren has sounded since the Gulf War in the early 1990s.

The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for the shelling.

Earlier, more blasts have been reported in southern Tel Aviv and the cities of Yaffo, Bat Yam, Holon and Rehovot.

Hamas militants have fired over 380 rockets at Israel, some of them were long-distance ones and hit the suburbs of Dimona, 75 km of the Gaza Strip.

One rocket struck Rishon Lesion located near Tel Aviv. No casualties or damage have so far been reported.

The militants allegedly used Fajr-5 missiles that the Israeli troops have been seeking to destroy since the launch of the Gaza operation.

According to the local military, the Iron Domesystem intercepted some 100 rockets targeting large cities in southern Israel.

The region is still under sporadic fire.

Gaza rocket strikes outskirts of Tel Aviv

A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip struck an Israeli city on the outskirts of Tel Aviv on Thursday, exploding in an open area within the municipal limits of Rishon Lezion, the army said.

Air raid sirens sounded in Rishon Lezion, a city some 12 km (seven miles) south of Tel Aviv, and an explosion was heard. A military spokeswoman said the rocket hit an uninhabited area.

There were no reports of damage or casualties. Israeli media reports said the rocket came down near an amusement park in sand dunes on the edge of Rishon Lezion, a city of 300,000 people.

It was the northernmost point struck by a rocket since Israel’s Gaza offensive began on Wednesday.