The Israel Defense Forces said Saturday morning that two rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip toward central Israel.Large explosions were heard in a number of central Israel cities around 7 a.m.Video circulating on social media showed an explosion in the sea off the coast of Jaffa.Other footage apparently showed the two rockets being fired from Gaza.Armed factions in Gaza said the rocket fire was “caused by weather conditions,” not the first time the excuse has been used to explain the firing of projectiles toward Israel.
Indeed. I know of at least two times that rocket fire was said to have been caused by lightning strikes - but the other two times, the IDF actually accepted the excuse.
One was in November 2020, and the other in October 2018, both times the rocket fire was blamed on lightning. And Israel seemed to accept that excuse.
In at least one of the previous attacks, Israel was able to link the launch with a specific lightning strike. The video of the rockets being launched over Gaza today shows rainy conditions, but no lightning is evident.
Clearly Israel didn't believe that excuse this time, because the IDF responded with limited attacks against Gaza military targets early Sunday morning.
There are other differences. These rockets did not seem to be aimed at targets, but deliberately towards the sea and another unoccupied area. They appear to have been a message from, probably, Islamic Jihad, to pressure Israel to release a prisoner on a hunger strike whose condition is deteriorating.
UPDATE: Hamas, and Iran, are trumpeting the claim that Hamas responded to Israel's raid with SAM-7 rockets, the first time they have used those anti-aircraft missiles.
It seems entirely possible that the initial rocket fire was meant to get a predictable, symbolic reaction from Israel just so they could use those missiles and claim to field a successful new weapon.
