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Netanyahu threatened a forceful response to the long-range
strike amid accusations from opponents in a closely contested
Israeli election, two weeks away, that he had been showing
weakness in the face of security challenges from Gaza militants.
Netanyahu, who arrived in Washington on Sunday for a four-day
visit, said he would fly home immediately after meeting
President Donald Trump at the White House, as planned, later on
Monday.
"This was a heinous attack on the State of Israel and we will
respond strongly," Netanyahu said in a video statement.
"In light of the security events, I have decided to cut short my
visit to the United States. In a few hours, I will meet
President Trump and immediately after that I will return to
Israel to direct our actions close-hand."
The Israeli military said Hamas, the armed group that rules
Gaza, fired the rocket that destroyed a house in Mishmeret, a
village north of Tel Aviv.
There was no claim of responsibility for the early morning
strike. The military said Hamas launched the rocket from about
120 km (75 miles) away, making it the longest-range attack from
Gaza causing casualties since a 2014 war.
Israel's Magen David Adom ambulance service said it treated
seven people, including an infant, a 3-year-old boy, a
12-year-old girl and a 60-year-old woman who was suffering from
blast injuries, burns and shrapnel wounds.
"It just made me feel really unsafe all of a sudden, which is a
feeling I'm not used to," said Nitzan Shifrin, a 19-year-old
Mishmeret resident.
Israeli military chief spokesman Ronen Manelis said it was
assigning two brigades to the Gaza area and that some reservists
were being called up.
"We are prepared for a wide range of scenarios," he said.
HIGH TENSION
The attack came at a time of high tension ahead of this
weekend's anniversary of Gaza border protests that have included
Palestinian attempts to breach the frontier and often lethal
Israeli fire.
Palestinians in Gaza have also frequently launched incendiary
balloons towards Israeli farms and villages along the frontier -
attacks that have triggered Israeli air strikes, at times
against Hamas facilities abandoned in advance.
Two rockets were launched at Tel Aviv on March 14 but caused no
injuries or damage. Israel blamed those launches on Hamas,
though a security official later said the salvo had been set off
by accident.
In Gaza, Palestinians were bracing for retaliation as Israel
closed its border crossings with the territory and access to the
sea. Yahya Sinwar, Gaza's Hamas chief, canceled a planned public
meeting scheduled for Monday afternoon.
The prospect of a wider confrontation with Hamas poses a dilemma
for Netanyahu as the April 9 ballot nears.
Seven weeks of fighting in 2014 against Gaza militants led to
heavy casualties and damage in the impoverished territory and
rocket strikes against Israel that disrupted daily life.
However, recent Gaza violence has put a dent in Netanyahu's
tough-on-security image at a time when he is running
neck-and-neck with centrist challenger Benny Gantz, a former
armed forces chief, and facing calls for tough action from his
political rivals who are competing with him for the right-wing
vote.
Netanyahu's visit to Washington, after Trump said on Thursday it
was time to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan
Heights, an area it captured from Syria in a 1967 war, was
widely seen at home as an attempt to boost the Likud party
leader's chances for a fifth term.
Netanyahu's election prospects have been clouded by corruption
allegations against him. He has denied any wrongdoing.
(Writing by Jeffrey Heller in JerusalemAdditional reporting by
Stephen Farrell, Maayan Lubell and Dan Williams in Jerusalem and
Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza, Editing by William Maclean)
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