Residents of Ashdod and neighboring towns were startled early Friday evening by an alarm sounded after two rockets were launched from Gaza at the southern city. A short while after the alarm was sounded, residents of the area reported hearing blasts.

Two Grad rockets exploded in the Ashdod area, one of them near a residential neighborhood and another further away. A rocket alert was also sounded in Ashkelon, but the city was apparently not hit. No injuries or damage have been reported so far.

IDF sources told Ynet that the rockets were fired from the outskirts of Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip. The fire came from al-Atatra neighborhood, a residential area.

A number of video clips were published earlier this week of terrorists firing rockets from areas populated with civilians in order to make it more difficult for the army to respond.

Earlier this week Ashdod hosted a conference on rocket fire in which IDF officials predicted that Hamas would enforce relative calm in the region. The group repeatedly requested a lull following numerous airstrikes in Gaza, which were sparked by continuous rocket fire at Israel.

But Ashdod Mayor Yehiel Lasri was understandably unconvinced Friday. "Predictions and reality are separate things," he said Friday after the rocket fire.

"This continuous fire puts us in a vicious cycle of drizzling rockets. We expect the government of Israel and the IDF to act accordingly and stop this fire. We cannot go on like this."

17:35 - Guysen- Israë l : Deux missiles de type Grad s’abattent sur Ashdod

Nos partenaires d’Hatzalah Yoch nous confirment que deux missiles de type Grad se sont abattus sur Ashdod sans toutefois faire de victimes. L’alerte anti-roquette a également retenti àAhskelon, mais la ville n’a pas été touchée.

17:33 - Guysen- Une explosion a été entendu àAshdod

L’ alarme a retenti àAshdod et dans les villes voisines Vendredi après-midi, les résidents ont déclaré avoir entendu des explosions. Aucun blessé ni dégât n’a été signalé.

Gaza : tirs de roquettes sur Israë l

Avec Reuters 15/04/2011 | Mise àjour : 16:56

Des Palestiniens ont tiré aujourd’hui deux roquettes en direction des villes d’Ashadod et d’Ashkelon, dans le sud d’Israë l, a annoncé la police israélienne.

Ces tirs, qui n’ont fait ni victime, ni dégâts, mettent fin àune accalmie de plusieurs jours entre Palestiniens et Israéliens.

La semaine dernière, un tir de roquette antichar avait atteint un bus scolaire, blessant grièvement un adolescent israélien. L’armée israélienne avait riposté par une série de raids aéro-terrestres qui avaient tué 19 Palestiniens au total.

Durant les quatre jours d’affrontements qui ont suivi, les activistes de la bande de Gaza avaient tiré quelque 140 roquettes sur l’Etat hébreu.