JERUSALEM, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- A new round of rockets was fired from the Gaza Strip at southern Israel on Sunday night, the Israeli military said, amid an abrupt escalation in the region.
A military spokesperson said in a statement that the rockets were launched by militants in Gaza at Ashkelon city in southern Israel. At least two of them were intercepted.
No casualties were reported, according to the Israeli medical emergency service.
Local Israeli media reported that some rockets hit open fields, causing no damage.
Earlier on Sunday evening, 21 rockets were fired toward southern Israel, with the army's Iron Dome anti-rocket system intercepting 13 of them.
The rockets triggered sirens but caused no injuries. In Ashkelon, Mayor Tomer Glam ordered the opening of public shelters and announced that schools were canceled for Monday.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an Islamist group in Gaza, issued a statement, saying the rockets were a retaliation for the killing of a senior group member earlier on Sunday.
Video footage surfaced on social networks, showing an Israeli bulldozer lifting and dragging a body from the scene, while Palestinians were trying to carry the body, apparently for burial.
The Israeli army confirmed that it had shot and killed a Palestinian suspected of attempting to plant an explosive near the fence separating Israel and the besieged Palestinian enclave. The military added that the body was removed in order to prevent further danger.
