A makeshift rocket of the sort used by Palestinian militant groups landed deep inside Israel on Thursday, hitting an industrial zone in the port city of Ashkelon, Israeli military sources said.
No one was injured in the strike, which hit wasteland near a brewery.
But it was the first time an improvised rocket fired from the Gaza Strip had reached so far into Israel, exceeding the range of a previous firing on Sunday that hit a beach 4km short of Ashkelon.
That strike, which also caused no casualties, prompted Israeli commanders to warn of a possible ground operation inside the Gaza Strip if the rocket firings continued.
Dore Gold, an advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said the attack on Thursday had ”upped the ante”, although he would not say how the Israelis planned to respond.
It was proof that militant groups had abused a now defunct truce to hone their firepower.
”This shows how they have exploited their self-declared truce” to increase the range of their weaponry, Gold said.
An Israeli military source said the missile that landed in Ashkelon had a range of 9km.
”We have seen a very alarming escalation in the last six days, with the firing of over 55 mortars and 14 Qassam rockets,” he said.
”This was the deepest hit in the heart of Israel, and we are alarmed by this.
”We expect the Palestinian authority to take decisive and genuine action against terrorists firing at Israeli civilian targets on a daily basis.”
Palestinian police said they had opened fire on Thursday against a group of Hamas activists who were firing missiles into Israel from the northern Gaza Strip.
The police had tried to arrest activists who had fired three rockets but they fled in a car. Police then opened fire at the vehicle, shattering a window, the sources said.
Named after the armed wing of the Islamic radical group Hamas, which pioneered them, the Qassam rockets previously had a range of just 5km, rendering them largely ineffective. — Sapa-AFP