The Israeli military has closed the border crossings into the Gaza
Strip, after a rocket was fired from the Hamas-controlled territory
into southern Israel.
An Israeli army spokesman says the rocket
landed near the southern Israeli town of Sderot Thursday. There were
no reports of casualties, and no immediate claim of responsibility for
the rocket launch.
Several rockets have been fired at Israel
from Gaza, straining a fragile cease-fire deal between Israel and the
territory's Hamas rulers that went into effect two weeks ago.
Gaza's
Hamas leaders have warned militant factions in the coastal territory
that it will take action against anyone violating the truce.
Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert also has warned that Israel will respond
militarily if Palestinian militants continue attacks from Gaza in
violation of the Egyptian-brokered truce.
Israel has responded
to previous rocket fire by closing the border crossings used to bring
supplies into the Gaza Strip. Israel re-opened the crossings Wednesday
to allow cement shipments into Gaza.
The border crossings were
closed earlier this week in response to a rocket attack on southern
Israel Monday. There were no casualties in that incident.
Mr. Olmert has warned that Israel's restraint in the face of rocket attacks up to now should not be interpreted as a weakness.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
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