GAZA, Dec 12 ( Israeli soldiers today fired artillery shells at the Gaza Strip in response to a rocket shot by Palestinian
ilitants that crashed near an Israeli city, Israeli
military sources said.
There were no
reported injuries in either incident after a two-day lull in violence that followed a suicide bombing at an Israeli shopping mall on December 5 that killed five people.
The Israeli army said a rocket slammed into the town of Sderot, near the Gaza border, but caused no damage or injuries.
Afterwards soldiers fired artillery at rocket launch sites in northern Gaza , Israeli military sources said.
Witnesses in Gaza City reported hearing 15 loud blasts from the exploding shells.
Militants of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a wing of the mainstream Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the rocket strike, saying it was a response to Israel's killing of three of its members in air strikes last week.