Gaza militants fire rockets after new Israeli air strikes

May 10: Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip have fired more than 60 rockets toward Israel after the Israeli military said it carried out a series of air strikes on Islamic Jihad rocket launchers.

At least two Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, health officials say.

There are no reports of any serious injuries in Israel, where most rockets are said to have been intercepted.

It comes a day after 15 people in Gaza were killed in Israeli air strikes, including three Islamic Jihad leaders.

Islamic Jihad swore revenge, but there was no rocket fire overnight. Instead, the group warned Israel to expect its reaction anywhere, at any moment.

Israel's prime minister said any escalation from militants would be met with a "crushing response".

Palestinians said Wednesday's exchange of fire began with several loud explosions in southern Gaza, sending up large plumes of smoke.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said an aircraft targeted Islamic Jihad operatives travelling in a vehicle to a concealed rocket launcher in the Khan Younis area.

About an hour later, the IDF announced that it had started attacking underground rocket launchers belonging to Islamic Jihad across the territory in order to thwart planned attacks.

Palestinian media reported strikes in Gaza City, the northern town of Bait Lahiya, and the southern town of Rafah.

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said one man was killed and another seriously wounded in the initial strike on Khan Younis. Another man in his 50s was killed in a strike in the northern Beit Hanoun area, it added.

Not long afterward, militants fired began firing barrages of rockets from Gaza and rockets sirens sounded in communities in southern Israel.

Israeli officials said one rocket hit an empty house in the town of Sderot, which is only 1km (0.6 miles) from the Gaza perimeter fence. Another hit the roof of a kindergarten in the kibbutz of Nirim, which is close to southern Gaza, but no one was injured.

A hospital in the city of Ashkelon said it treated two people hurt while running to a bomb shelter and three other people for anxiety.

Later, rockets were launched toward central Israel, triggering sirens in the Tel Aviv area, 80km (50 miles) from Gaza.

In one video, explosions could be heard as two rockets appeared to be intercepted over Jaffa. There was no immediate confirmation from the IDF.

Meanwhile, tensions remain high in the occupied West Bank after Israel carried out arrest raids overnight. Two Palestinians were killed in the town of Qabatiya by Israeli forces, who said the pair fired at them.

(BBC)