Israel responds to Palestinian rocket barrages with airstrikes
14/11/2008 15:14 GAZA/TEL AVIV, November 14 (RIA Novosti) - Israeli aircraft fired missiles on Friday at militants in the Gaza Strip in response to continued Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli territories along the border.
Militants from at least three Palestinian factions, including Hamas, claimed responsibility for firing over a dozen rockets earlier on Friday. Three of the rockets exploded in the town of Sderot, slightly injuring an Israeli woman and damaging a building and several cars.
According to Palestinian emergencies services, at least two militants were slightly wounded in the Israeli airstrike.
The 10-day exchange of Palestinian rocket barrages and Israeli air strikes put in jeopardy a five-month truce and led to the resumption of an Israeli blockade of the border with Gaza, cutting the supplies of essential goods to 750,000 Gaza residents.
The escalation of violence on the border with Gaza began when Israeli troops went into the enclave last week to destroy a tunnel which Israel claimed had been dug as part of planned operations to abduct its soldiers.
Eleven militants have been killed in over 10 days of fighting, and some 140 rockets and mortars have reportedly been fired from Gaza at Israel.
Israel closed all crossings into Gaza on October 30 as border violence intensified in a breach of the ceasefire deal. The fuel shortages forced Gaza's sole power plant to shut down on Monday, causing blackouts in Gaza, although an Israeli defense spokesman said that 600,000 liters of fuel had crossed into Gaza on Wednesday.
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