Gaza rocket into Israel breaks 2-month lull, Israel responds

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says Palestinian militants have fired a rocket into southern Israel, shattering a two-month lull in violence at the Gaza-Israel border. That’s in contrast to soaring tensions in the occupied West Bank. The military says aerial defense systems intercepted the projectile early Saturday, which activated warning sirens in the southern coastal city of Ashkelon. There were no reports of casualties. No Palestinian group claimed responsibility for the rocket fire but Israel blames the militant Hamas group, which rules Gaza. Israeli aircraft carried out a series of retaliatory airstrikes at Hamas sites. An Israeli military raid in the West Bank early Friday, in which three Palestinian militants were killed, could have triggered the rocket attack.