(VIDEO IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

The Iron Dome missile defense system was activated on Sunday night, and dozens of the anti-missile missiles were fired into the sky.

Sirens wailed and Red Alerts were sent out sending tens of thousands of people cross Southern Israel into nearby bomb shelters.

A short while later, the IDF released a statament that it was a false alarrm

Brigadier General Ronen Menlis from the IDF spokesperson’s Unit said: “No barrage of missiles was fired at Israel from Gaza. The status quo has not changed. The sirens sounded due to machine gun fire that took place inside the Gaza Strip. There have been no rockets falling anywhere in Israel. We will study this incident and the reasons why the Iron Dome batteries discharged. We will investigate whether there were any actual rockets fired from Gaza.”

United Hatzalah psychotrauma unit is responding to a shock victim in Sderot.

The incident came as Hamas reportedly launched a large-scale military exercise in Gaza on Sunday morning.

(Charles Gross – YWN)