Early assessments of overnight rocket fire point to the Sinai; Eilat mayor says attack wont disrupt normal life

Police and military forces resumed searching for remains of fallen rockets in Eilat Thursday morning after explosions rocked the city shortly after midnight. One rocket landed near a residential apartment building. No injuries or damage was reported.

As the vibrations rattled residents’ homes at around 1 a.m., many went outside to find the source and after two hours of searching one rocket was discovered.

Police and rescue services raised alert level and regional police officials said they would beef up presence in the southern city in advance of the Passover weekend.

Early security assessments point to the Sinai as the origin of the rocket fire, but it is unknown which organization carried out the attack.

Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen Benny Gantz held briefings with senior officers in the Southern Command to decide on future steps.

According to military sources, there was no prior intelligence of an attack on Israel’s southernmost city. The last time such an attack took place was in 2010.

Eilat Mayor Meir Yitzhak Halevi told Channel 2 News that the city was open to visitors and that the public would not allow the terrorist to achieve their goal of disrupting normal life in the city.

“It is obvious that the aim of the perpetrators is to disrupt our lives. It is also obvious that we won’t let them,” said Halevi.

Halevy invited the public to come to Eilat during their Passover vacations though he stated that hotels were near full capacity already.

Halevi declined to comment on suggestions that his city would receive an Iron Dome anti-missile defense system. (© 2012 THE TIMES OF ISRAEL 04/05/12)