Overnight Wednesday, a rocket launched from Gaza landed in the Kissufim area. No injuries were reported in the attack. The rocket alert system worked, and the siren went off as soon as the launch was detected.

On Tuesday, Egyptian helicopter gunships attacked and killed dozens of Islamic terrorists in northern Sinai. The operation is reportedly still ongoing.

Since the military coup which overthrew the elected Muslim Brotherhood president, Egypt has been stepping up operations to stamp out the Islamic terrorists who have been attacking Egyptian, and even Israeli interests.

On Monday, Egypt reportedly arrested 2 al-Qaida members who fired rockets at Israel.

Spacecom, operator of the AMOS satellite fleet, announced that Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has selected Space International Services, Ltd. (SIS) to launch the AMOS-4 commercial satellite. The launch is scheduled to take place this Saturday night from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

AMOS-4 will be the second AMOS satellite launched by SIS on its Zenit-3SLB launch vehicle. AMOS-3 was launched to its 4ºW orbital position in 2008 on the same vehicle. AMOS-4′s launch weight will be approximately 4.2 tons, demonstrating that SIS has significantly increased the Zenit-3SLB vehicle’s performance since the AMOS-3 launch.

The satellite is expected to have a lifespan of 12 years.

Here are some photos from its construction and transportation to the launch site.

Cool. I wish I was going with it.

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) struck back at Lebanon, hitting a terrorist target near Beirut, Lebanon early Friday morning.

The IAF said all targets were hit, and the pilots returned home safely. There is no information on damage or casulties on the part of the enemy.

The strike was in response to the four rockets launched at Israel yesterday.

The Israeli government said it is holding the Lebanese government responsible, though Lebanese president denied involvment in the attack, and is reported to have said that the rocket attacks were a violation of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.

The Haifa airport will remain closed overnight due to the rocket fire from Lebanon.

Passengers returning from Eilat will instead land in Sde Dov in Tel Aviv, and from there, they will be bused to Haifa.

Lebanese sources are reporting that a large number of IAF fighter planes are currently overflying Lebanon. The Lebanese army has said that the IAF has not attacked.

Originally published at Gatestone Institute.

The dramatic escalation in Egypt’s domestic conflict between the Muslim Brotherhood and the military is being accompanied by an upsurge in the activities of jihadi organizations in the Sinai Peninsula.

Since Morsi’s ouster, extremist Salafi and jihadi organizations have launched waves of attacks on Egyptian security forces, and provoked this week’s extensive counter-terrorism operation by the Egyptian army.

These Al-Qaeda-affiliated forces are also seeking to strike Israel — both to satisfy their ideological demand for jihad against Israelis, and to try and force Israel and Egypt into a confrontation, thereby undermining the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty.

The Israel Defense Forces are therefore on high alert in the event of further attacks by terrorists in Egypt, while also facing the dilemma of how to safeguard its own national security without infringing on Egyptian sovereignty at this most sensitive time.

Two unprecedented incidents on the southern border in just the last few days, however, served as markers for the rapidly changing situation.

First, according to international media reports, an Israeli drone struck an Al-Qaeda-affiliated organization in Sinai, as it was making final preparations to fire rockets at Israel.

While Israeli defense officials have not confirmed or denied the reports, if true, they represent the first preemptive counter-terrorism strike on Egyptian soil.

If Israeli intelligence receives word of an imminent attack taking shape in Sinai, with little time to coordinate a response with Egyptian military forces, such action might be expected.

Islamists across Egypt were quick to seize on the incident to accuse the Egyptian military of being complicit in an Israeli breach of Egyptian sovereignty.

Although this incident was quickly forgotten by Egyptians as both Egypt proper and Sinai descended into turmoil, there is evidence that further attacks by Sinai terrorists against both Egyptian security forces and Israel are being planned.

An additional signal of the deteriorating security situation in Sinai was the rocket fired by a terrorist organization at the Red Sea tourist resort city of Eilat over the weekend.

Anticipating the attack, the IDF stationed an Iron Dome anti-rocket battery in the city. The prior preparation paid off: the system fired an interceptor that successfully stopped the rocket from hitting the city.

The rocket failed to hurt anyone, but it did trigger an air-raid siren and frighten tourists, sending them scatting for cover. Unlike the cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon, which are used to Palestinian rocket terrorism, Eilat, a resort town, is not used to living under rocket fire.

Today, a shadow of uncertainty hangs over the future of the city’s tourist industry. For now, Israeli visitors to the city are displaying trademark resilience, and are continuing to pack the city’s hotels and beaches.

Nearby, however, the IDF continues on high alert, watching every suspicious movement in the desert sands near the Egyptian border for signs of the next attack.

Two rockets were fired from the Hamas controlled area of Gaza during the controversial release of 26 terrorists, as a gesture to Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas.

One rocket hit in an open area near Sderot. No injuries were reported.

The second rocket landed within Gaza.