Haim Yalin, the head of the Eshkol Regional Council, addressed the false alarms sounded this morning (Sunday) at about 8:24 a.m. in three kibbutzim - Nirim, Ein HaShlosha, and Kissufim - all located within the council.
"It does not matter to the population in these communities that this was a false alarm," Yellin said in an interview with Army Radio. Focusing on the anguish and trauma created by the sound of the alarm itself, he added, "Even in a (false alarm) situation like this, we still need to move the children into protected spaces. What the alarm does to the heart and soul is very difficult to describe."
Indeed, Israelis living in the South have shown an increasing distrust for the government's guarantees of quiet, despite the truce in place.
After tests were conducted, an IDF Spokesperson stated that these were false alarms. However, it has not yet been determined what caused the system to activate the alarm.
Since the end of Operation Protective Edge alarms have sounded in communities near the Gaza border a number of times, but in all cases, with one exception, these turned out to be false alerts.
Additionally, in one case, in which an alarm did not sound, a rocket was found to have exploded near a western Negev community, close to the border fence.
Despite Israel's promise that it would respond to all rocket fire with fire, Israel decided to settle this case by simply having the Hamas rocket launchers arrested and prosecuted.