Israel downs rocket launched by Gaza militants

JERUSALEM – The Israeli military said it intercepted a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip on Sunday night in a rare attack punctuating months of relative calm.

Air raid sirens sounded in the southern Israeli city of Sderot. The military said the Iron Dome missile defence system downed an incoming rocket. There were no reports of casualties, but Israeli media reported damage to a vehicle. Sunday’s attack was the first case of rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave in nearly a month. In early July, Gaza militants fired three rockets toward Israel, resulting in no casualties.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the rocket fire.

Israel and Hamas have largely maintained an informal cease-fire agreement in recent months after three wars and numerous smaller battles in the Gaza Strip, which has been blockaded by Israel and Egypt since the Hamas militant group seized power from rival Palestinian forces in the strip in 2007.