By KUNA
Gaza : Locally-made rockets fired from north Gaza targeted the southern Israeli town of Sderot on Sunday and Palestinian gunmen engaged in ground clashes with Israeli troops in the West Bank.
A spokesman of the Israeli Army said a pair of missiles, unleashed from the north of Gaza Strip, hit an uninhabited area near Sdeort, causing no losses.
Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, said in a statement it was responsible for the new missile attack, adding that “the operation was in retaliation for the occupation forces’ crimes against our people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.” Sderot has been hard hit with recurring attacks by Palestinian rocketeers using locally-fabricated rockets of limited range.
In the town of Qabatya, in the north of the West Bank, armed members of Al-Quds Brigades, the military arm of Islamic Jihad, engaged in fierce clashes with Israeli troops at dawn today, according to a statement released by the faction. It added that the gunmen engaged the regulars that were spotted trying to advance in the direction of the town via several axes.
The fighters tossed hand-grenades in the direction of a group of soldiers who stepped out of a military jeep during the confrontations, causing casualties among the troops.
There was no word from Israel on the ground fighting.
On Saturday, the Israeli troops carried out a limited incursion into the eastern outskirts of Jabalya north of the Gaza under intensive cover by military jets, and Israeli warplanes attacked a group of Palestinian gunmen east of the refugee camp of Jibalya in the north of Gaza Strip, killing two of the fighters.
Up to 37 Palestinians have been killed in stepped-up attacks in Gaza since four days ago. More than 150 others have been wounded.
At least 6,000 people, mainly Palestinians, have lost their lives since flare-up of the second Palestinian uprising in September 2000.