Hamas fired six home-made Qassam rockets at Israel on Friday morning. A woman and a girl were lightly injured after two of the rockets landed in the southern town of Sderot.
Four other rockets landed near Sderot, Israel Radio said.
Also Friday, Palestinians fired two mortars at an Israeli outpost in the Gaza Strip and a Gush Katif settlement. In the West Bank, four Palestinians were arrested Friday in the Bethlehem and Hebron.
Palestinian sources said Thursday night that a 21-year-old man was killed by Israeli gunfire in the Gaza Strip border town of Rafah. In the West Bank, Israel Radio reported Thursday night that Israeli troops raided the city of Tulkarem and its refugee camp, and Israeli troops north of Nablus fatally shot a 40-year-old Palestinian man carrying merchandise on his donkey. Five youths were wounded by Israeli gunfire aimed at stone-throwers in the Balata refugee camp near Nablus.
Meanwhile, the United States criticized Israel on Thursday night for the assassination of a top Hamas activist in the Gaza Strip earlier in the day, saying that such measures were an obstacle to peace.
While Israel has the right to defend itself, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said, such "targeted killings" made it harder to achieve peace.
"We urge the Israeli government to take all appropriate precautions to prevent death or injury of innocent civilians, damage to civilian and humanitarian infrastructure, to consider the consequences of their actions and refrain from actions that adversely impact the ability of Palestinians to lead lives in as normal a manner as possible," he said. (Albawaba.com)
