Israeli warplanes and artillery targets Palestinian rocket launchers in Gaza

Israel's air force and artillery carried out a bombing against a rocket launch-pad in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the Israeli military said.

It said aircraft fired "warning shots into an open area from where Qassam rockets were launched" to prevent further attacks.

The raid occurred some two hours after a rocket was fired from Gaza into the southern Israeli town of Sderot, reports Sydney Morning herald.

After a lull in violence for much of Tuesday, militants fired two rockets at Israel from Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza on Wednesday, witnesses said. An Israeli military source said the remains of one rocket were found near a Sderot college.

The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed wing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's ruling Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the rocket attack. Abbas had condemned earlier rocket attacks by militants.

About two hours after Sderot was hit, the Israeli military said it had sent warplanes to carry out a bombing raid against a rocket launch-pad in northern Gaza.

The aircraft fired "warning shots into an open area from where Qassam rockets were launched" to prevent further attacks, the military said.

It said the army directed artillery fire at northern Gaza, and Palestinian witnesses reported explosions in the area near Beit Hanoun, informs Reuters.

P.T.