Air raid sirens sounded in Jerusalem early Friday evening as local residents were preparing for the Sabbath.
At first most people assumed the sirens were the weekly signal that Sabbath was about to begin. But it quickly became apparent that something was different - the siren sounded different, and it lasted far too long.
It was later reported that the missile had hit somewhere near the Etzion Bloc of Jewish towns just south of Jerusalem.
Israeli army officials said the current conflict is likely to last several weeks, and is set to escalate to unprecedented levels.