A rocket fired from Gaza crashed into a house in southern Israel on Sunday, causing heavy damage but not casualties, as two more landed near the city of Beersheva, an Israel police spokesman said. Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said one rocket hit a house in Netivot and caused damage to a second, while two others landed near Beersheva, a city of 194,000 people.
"There were two near Beersheva, and another in Netivot which damaged two houses," he said.
A military spokeswoman could only confirm two rockets, saying one had landed in "an uninhabited area near Beersheva" while a second "slammed into a house in Netivot causing serious damage."
According to a count by the army, militants have fired 14 rockets at Israel since September 1. Following the attack, schools were closed for the day in Beersheva as well as in the southern coastal cities of Ashkelon, which has a population of 113,000 people, and Ashdod, home to 207,000 people, media reports said.
There has been a steady increase in rocket fire on southern Israel over the last few weeks, with a number of the attacks claimed by radical Salafist groups.