Army says 2 rockets fired from Gaza toward southern Israel

The Israeli military said Friday that Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired two rockets toward southern Israel.

The rockets were aimed at the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon, but air defenses intercepted them, the military said. There were no reports of casualties or damage.

Volleys of missiles from the Iron Dome defense system illuminated the sky in northern Gaza Strip as they exploded trying to hit the incoming rockets.

No Palestinian group in the Hamas-ruled Gaza claimed responsibility for the rocket fire, which broke months of cross-border calm.

Rocket attacks and Israeli retaliatory artillery and aerial strikes are frequent, but they have largely been subdued in recent months due to the raging coronavirus outbreak in both territories.

The militant Hamas group, which has ruled Gaza since 2007 and fought three wars with Israel and countless rounds of smaller skirmishes, maintains an unofficial cease-fire with Israel.

Hamas charges that Israel doesn’t honor its truce obligations, which include easing a crippling blockade on the Palestinian enclave, and allowing for large-scale infrastructure and job-creation projects.