Islamist group claims rocket attack on Israel's Eilat

DUBAI (AFP) - (AFP) - An Islamist militant group has claimed responsibility for two rocket attacks aimed at Israel's Red Sea resort town of Eilat, SITE Intelligence Group reported on Thursday. A group calling itself Ansar Jerusalem claimed to be responsible for firing "two Grad rockets into the city" which it said hit "inhabited targets," in a statement posted on online jihadist forums, the US-based monitoring agency said. On Wednesday, evening, Israeli police said two blasts rocked the city, but police and troops were unable to find debris or damage from what was widely believed to be a rocket attack. A similar attack took place in April but caused no casualties. "Israel's reports that the rockets fell in open areas are false and its customary way to hide losses," SITE quoted the statement as saying. The action came almost exactly a year after gunmen from the Sinai in Egypt sneaked across the border into southern Israel and staged a deadly ambush which killed eight Israelis, on August 18, 2011. Shortly afterwards, SITE published a statement by Ansar Jerusalem claiming the attack, but Israel blamed the ambush on Palestinian militants of the Gaza-based Popular Resistance Committees.