Rockets hit Sderot as Obama visits Israel

Five Qassam rockets were fired at southern Israel from Gaza on Thursday morning, on the second day of US President Barack Obama's visit to the Middle East. After a long period of calm following Operation Pillar of Defense, a Color Red alert sounded in the city of Sderot at around 7:15 am, followed by additional air raid sirens, one of them in the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council. One of the rockets hit the backyard of a house in Sderot, while another landed in an open area. There were no reports of injuries, but the yard sustained slight damage. Two additional rockets are believed to have landed on Palestinian territory. According to initial estimates, the rockets were fired from the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun. Sderot Mayor David Buskila is also certain that the Gaza fire is directly related to Obama's visit. "The rockets fired at the city this morning are the Gaza organizations' way of communicating with the US president who is now in Israel. I believe they are trying to tell him that he can go to Ramallah or any other place in the territories and finalize things with Abbas, but that they are the ones setting the tone in regards to calm or escalation in the region. "I think this was a one-time incident and I hope it will stay that way. The last time Obama was here he visited Sderot, but this time it's not on his itinerary. I don't think he knew sometimes and therefore decided not to come here."