An unconfirmed local source in southern Israel said early Thursday, “It appears that heavy machine gun fire” triggered the Red Alert incoming rocket alert sirens that were triggered after midnight Wednesday night at around 1:30 am in the Sha’ar HaNegev and Sdot Negev regional council districts of the Gaza Belt region.
Families in the Jewish communities of Kfar Aza and Sa’ad were sent racing for their safe spaces and bomb shelters with only a 15-second window in which to reach safety from potential incoming rockets, missiles or mortar shells.
The sirens were triggered immediately following an Israeli Air Force attack on a Hamas military compound in northern Gaza, according to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.