By Xinhua
Jerusalem : A mortar shell from northern Gaza Strip hit the area near an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) base early Wednesday, an IDF spokesman told Xinhua.
Four female soldiers were treated for shock following the strike, which came after a string of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza since Monday night, killing over 10 Palestinian militants.
Some 15 mortar shells and six Qassam rockets from Gaza landed on Israel Tuesday, causing no injuries or damage.
In September, a Qassam rocket struck the same IDF base, wounding 69 soldiers, one of them critically.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert pledged Tuesday that Israel would continue to pursue leaders of Palestinian militant groups in Gaza Strip and West Bank cities.
“Anyone who is responsible for the firing (of Qassams and mortar shells) on our communities – we will reach him. The actions will speak for themselves, and heads of the terror groups will feel it,” Olmert told fellow Kadima party members at his official residence in Jerusalem.
Earlier on Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told visiting U.S. security coordinator James Jones that Israel must get prepared for possible retaliatory attacks by militants in Gaza.
He said he hoped that the successful Israeli military strikes against the rocket launchers and mortars continue to prevent rocket attacks against the western Negev.
The IDF on Tuesday continued its assault on Gaza Strip militants responsible for Qassam rockets attacks that batter southern Israel on a daily basis, raising the death toll among Islamic Jihad and Hamas to 13 in the past 24 hours.
The strikes are IDF’s most deadly military response in months to the frequent attacks from the Hamas-controlled territory.
Jihad spokesman in Gaza Strip, Abu Hamza, hinted that his group would carry out suicide attacks in Jewish towns in Gaza periphery in response to Israeli military operation, Israel Radio reported.