Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu was hustled off the stage during a leadership rally under rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. It comes just a day before a tense leadership battle for control of the Likud party begins.
The rocket was intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system, said the Israel Defense Forces. A video shows the prime minister being ushered from the stage together with his wife, Sara, and aides after warning sirens interrupted his rally.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported the group was taken to a shelter after being evacuated, with the prime minister returning later to finish off his speech.
The vote to decide the Likud party leader in the next election will begin on Thursday and Netanyahu is facing a tense campaign for the leadership. Netanyahu is looking to shore up his majority to lead the party after two elections in 2019 saw the party struggle to secure a coalition government deal.
Following the rocket attack, the Israel Defense Force tweeted that it had “struck a number of Hamas terror targets in Gaza.”It did not say what targets had been struck.
