ME tension prevails as More Rocket Attacks in Israel
'Pakistan Times' Foreign Desk

JERUSALEM: One person was wounded on Sunday in the southern Israeli town of Sderot by an exploding rocket fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip, according to military sources.

Responsibility for the attacks was claimed by the governing Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, saying in a statement that it had fired a total of nine rockets towards southern Israel, including Sderot and Ashkelon.

The flare-up in violence comes amid Palestinian anger after eight people were killed by a shell on Friday while enjoying a picnic on a beach in northern Gaza.

Gaza Air Strike

And a report from Gaza says that at least one Palestinian was killed and another two were wounded Sunday in an Israeli air strike on the northern Gaza Strip, medical and military sources said.

A spokeswoman for the Israeli military said that the air force had targeted a militant cell which had been on the verge of launching rockets from the Beit Lahiya region.

"We identified hitting the cell but we do not know their condition," the spokeswoman added.

Palestinian medical sources said that one person had been killed and another wounded although there was no immediate word on their identity.

The air strike came after a series of rocket attacks on southern Israel from Gaza claimed by a number of armed Palestinian factions, including the governing Hamas movement.●