Streaks of light are seen as Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel May 11, 2021. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

i24 News – A rocket fired from Gaza by the Hamas terrorist group scored a direct hit on an apartment building in the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva early Thursday morning.

The Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency medical response team reported that five people were treated for smoke inhalation from a large fire that broke out, as well as wounds from rocket shrapnel, with four lightly injured and one suffering moderate injuries.

International flights were cancelled at nearby Ben Gurion International Airport as rockets launched from Gaza continued to threaten the center of the country.

Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad on Wednesday threatened to target Haifa and Eilat at 6 p.m. local time but that threat never materialized.

Rocket sirens sounded in northern Israel as far as the Galilee region early Thursday but the Home Front Command later clarified that the sirens were a precautionary measure.

Most of the rocket attacks overnight were aimed at southern and central Israel.

A 5-year-old boy was killed and at least seven wounded when a rocket fired from Gaza slammed into an apartment building in the border town of Sderot.

On Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that it conducted a joint military operation with the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) that killed a number of senior Hamas commanders.

The IDF said that a total of 650 terror targets in Gaza had been hit so far with attacks continuing into Thursday.