Egypt

Update: Blasts rock Israel resort, investigations ongoing

Two powerful explosions were heard in the southern resort city of Eilat, Israel, on Wednesday evening. No injuries have been reported, according to Israeli media.

The English website for Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot reported that the Israel Defense Forces are currently investigating the blasts.

They said that the security forces suspect that they were fired from Sinai.

“We have received phone calls from residents alerting us following two blasts,” police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

"The Israeli police announced that it did not find any traces of rocket debris in the vicinity of Eilat. However, it is still combing the area," Ofir Gendelman, the Israeli Prime Minister's spokesperson to the Arab media, wrote on Twitter following the blasts.

In April two rockets fired from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula hit the southern resort city but caused no casualties.

Eilat police were put on the highest state of alert following the attack, during which three loud blasts rocked the city as it was packed with tourists ahead of the Jewish holiday Passover.

Those rockets were the first since the collapse of the regime of former President Hosni Mubarak in February 2011. Since he was toppled, a wave of unrest has swept the restive Sinai Peninsula which borders on Israel.

In June two other rockets, also fired from the Sinai, exploded over Israeli territory, according to the police.

Earlier this month 16 Egyptian border police were gunned down by militants in northern Sinai who then forced their way into Israel, where they were halted by an Israeli helicopter strike.

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