Israel deploys fifth Iron Dome missile defence battery

The Israeli military deployed an Iron Dome missile defense battery to the Red Sea port city of Eilat on Wednesday night amid rising tensions on Israel's southern front with the Gaza Strip, local media reported Thursday.The battery, which became fully operational earlier on Wednesday, is considered the fifth in the air force's arsenal.The deployment in Eilat, a popular desert resort twice attacked by rockets fired from the Egyptian-controlled Sinai last year, came amid rising tensions on Israel's southern front with the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank.Rockets fired by Gaza militants entered its third day Thursday when militants fired a projectile that fell in an open area in Israel. No injuries or damage were reported in the attack. The rockets fired from Gaza prompted Israeli army to launch retaliatory air strikes on targets in northern Gaza's Beit Lahia for the first time since an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire in November last year.Meanwhile, the Israeli army on Thursday ratcheted up alertness in the West Bank, where thousands of Palestinians were due to partake in the funeral of Maysara Abu Hamdeya, 64, who was serving a life sentence in an Israeli prison and died of cancer Tuesday.On Wednesday night, Israeli troops shot dead two Palestinian youths who hurled petrol bombs at their position during a scuffle that broke out near the city of Tulkarm.