Israel reinforces Gaza border troops after rocket injures seven and destroys family home

Seven people were injured early today after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip destroyed a house near Tel Aviv.

Six people from the same family, including two children and a baby, were wounded at Mishmeret, north of the city of Kfar Saba.

The attack prompted prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cut short a trip to Washington.

He described it as a “criminal attack” and vowed to “respond forcefully”.

Israeli military spokesman Major Mika Lifshitz said troops were being reinforced along the Gaza border and reserves called up.

She accused Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers of firing the rocket from the southern part of the coastal strip.

The attack came two weeks before Israel holds an election and followed Donald Trump’s expression of support for Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights.

A family home suffered a direct hit from a missile reportedly fired by militant groups from the Gaza Strip in Moshav Mishmeret near Netanya, north of Tel Aviv Israel. (EPA)