Militants fire rockets after Sharon's burial

Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired two rockets which hit an area close to the ranch where former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was laid to rest today.
The rockets landed in open fields and did not cause damages or injuries.
Controversial leader Sharon, hailed as a military hero at home and loathed in the Arab world as a war criminal, was today laid to rest at his family ranch in southern Israel after a state funeral.
Israel honoured Sharon with a three-part state funeral, beginning in the Knesset (Parliament) plaza and ending with his burial at his Sycamore Ranch, the family home in the Negev.

Security was on high alert for the funeral given its close proximity to the Gaza Strip ruled by Islamist Hamas.
The Knesset ceremony was attended by dignitaries from around the world, including US Vice President Joe Biden, former British prime minister Tony Blair, Czech Prime Minister Jiri Rusnok, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Russian Duma Chair Sergey Naryshkin.

President Shimon Peres eulogised Sharon as a "friend, leader and general."
"Our great leader, rest in peace. The land from whence you came will embrace you in its great and warm arms of the history of our people," he said as Sharon's flag-draped coffin stood on a black marble plinth.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an opponent of Sharon's withdrawal of all troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005, hailed Sharon as "one of the greatest generals that the Jewish people and the Israel Defense Forces had ever known."
Biden, wearing a black Jewish skullcap, in his tribute at the Knesset, said, "The security of his people was always Arik's unwavering mission - a non-breakable commitment to the future of Jews, whether 30 years or 300 years from now."
Blair remembered Sharon as "passionate" about his country and a "giant in this land."
Following the Knesset ceremony, a military convoy took Sharon's coffin to Sycamore Ranch. The convoy stopped in Latrun, where the general who fought in almost all of Israel's wars received a special salute by IDF's General Staff.

Following the ceremony in Latrun, which was closed to the public, the funeral procession headed to Anemone Hill, where Sharon was laid to rest beside his late wife, Lily.