Jordan makes official statement: a Grad rocket hit Aqaba. The rocket appears to have been fired from outside Jordan.
Jordanian Minister of Information Nabil al-Sharif confirmed Thursday evening that a Grad rocket hit the city of Aqaba earlier in the day. Previously, Al-Sharif said only that an explosion had occurred in a warehouse in the city.
Al-Sharif said the missile damaged a warehouse, and did not cause injury. The Grad was fired from outside Jordan, he said. Jordanian authorities plan to investigate the incident.
Israel is investigating the incident as well. Israeli investigators believe there may have been more than one rocket fired; additional rockets, if found, could give clues as to the identity of the attackers.
Two or three explosions were heard in Eilat on Thursday morning, leading to fears that rockets had hit the city. Security forces searched and found that the rockets had apparently struck Aqaba, adjacent to Eilat.
One theory was that the rockets had been fired by terrorists in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, who intended to hit Eilat but missed their mark. Egyptian officials denied that missiles had been fired from Egyptian territory.
Some residents of Eilat expressed anger at the media for reporting that rockets had been fired at Eilat despite the fact that it has not been proven that Eilat was the target. Reports of terrorism targeting Eilat are premature, and are likely to harm the thriving tourist industry in the city, they said.