Incoming rocket signals were prompted in northern Negev in the zone near Israel’s nuclear reactor in the morning of Thursday, followed by huge explosions that could be heard through much of the country.
The Israel Defense Forces held the sirens in northern Negev, not far from the country’s nuclear reactor, were set off not by a rapt hit on a target within Israel but by a wayward Syrian anti-aircraft missile that had been fired at an Israeli jet during an airstrike aimed at the Golan Heights.
“A launch was detected off a surface-to-air missile from Syria towards Israeli territory, which fell in the Negev region,” the IDF said.
IDF troops hurled an interceptor missile at the entering projectile to try to shoot it down, though it was not instantaneously clear if this was successful. The IDF said it was still investigating the matter as of Thursday morning. The Israeli military refused to identify which of its air defense batteries was used.
Pieces of the Syrian surface-to-air missile landed in open areas of the Ramat Negev region of southern Israel, local authorities said in a message to residents, with some pieces reportedly striking some 30 kilometers from the Dimona nuclear reactor.
