Israeli sappers on Saturday recovered the debris of a rocket fired into southern Israel late on Friday, a military spokesperson said. Egypt denied Israeli allegations that the rocket had been launched from Sinai.
"Last night, an explosion in the Arava valley was heard, and this morning we recovered the remains of a device we have now identified as a Grad-type rocket," the spokesperson told AFP.
"An investigation into the attack has now begun."
The desert Arava region extends from the south of the Dead Sea to the Red Sea resort city of Eilat.
A Grad rocket exploded near Eilat at the beginning of April, without causing any casualties, and another unexploded Grad was later found in the same area.
The Israeli military said both rockets had been fired from the desert in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
An Egyptian security source denied this report, telling Al-Masry Al-Youm that no rockets have been fired from Sinai into Israel. The source added that "these are simply false allegations by Israel aimed at destabilizing the security situation and affecting [Egypt's] electoral process."
Former General Abdel Moneim Kato, an adviser to the Egyptian military's Morale Affairs Department, said that the Israeli allegations are part of the "psychological warfare" conducted by Israel in order to disturb the "democratic breakthrough Egypt is witnessing now in the presidential election run-off."
He said Israel is trying to make Egyptians question their military's ability to protect the country's borders, and make the world believe that the elections are taking place at the expense of Israel's security.
Kato noted that Israel had claimed, during the first round of the elections last month, that two rockets were fired from Sinai towards the desert surrounding Eilat.
He added "Eilat is a big city and it's easy to target a residential area instead of only throwing rockets in the desert."
