JERUSALEM: Palestinian militants fired a rocket at Israel early on Monday without wounding anyone hours after three Palestinians were killed by tank fire near the tense border of the Hamas-ruled territory.
The military said the rocket landed in an empty field near Sderot, an Israeli town near the border that frequently came under rocket attack in the years before the December 2008 and January 2009 Gaza war.
The spokesman added that five rocket and mortar rounds had been fired from Gaza in the last 24 hours after a week of near-daily attacks. No one has been wounded by the projectiles.
On Sunday three Palestinians, including a 91-year-old man and a teenager, were killed by Israeli tank shelling near the northern town of Beit Hanun, according to Gaza medics.
Israel's military said it had targeted a group of militants who were preparing to fire a rocket-propelled grenade after earlier firing warning shots at people approaching the border fence in the same area.
The Popular Resistance Committees, an armed group, later claimed responsibility for rocket and mortar fire into Israel that occurred at around the same time and location.
The recent violence comes after months of relative calm in the wake of the Gaza war in which Hamas has taken steps to rein in smaller and more radical armed groups who are believed to be behind the rocket attacks.
Hamas is vehemently opposed to Israeli-Palestinian peace talks which restarted in Washington this month after a hiatus of nearly two years. A second round of talks is to take place on Tuesday in Egypt.
In late 2008, Israel launched a devastating 22-day war on the Gaza Strip aimed at halting rocket attacks against its territory. The conflict cost the lives of 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.
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