Palestinians unleash rockets

GAZA CITY -- Palestinian militants fired five homemade rockets into Israel yesterday, defying the calls by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to halt the attacks.

The Israeli Army said four of the rockets landed near the southern border town of Sderot, while the fifth landed near the city of Ashkelon. There were no injuries, it said.

The barrage came a day after Abbas criticized Palestinian militants for continuing to fire rockets at Israeli border communities.

``What is happening in Gaza as a result of rockets fired in vain must stop right now because there is no national interest in this continuing," Abbas said in a speech Wednesday. He said dozens of Gazans have been killed and many more injured in recent months. ``For what?" Abbas said.

Abbas has made similar appeals in the past, saying the rockets give Israel an excuse to attack, only to be rebuffed by militants. Islamic Jihad, which has launched hundreds of rockets at Israel, claimed responsibility for yesterday's attacks.

The rocket fire came shortly after Israeli troops withdrew from the outskirts of Gaza City yesterday, ending a five-day operation that Palestinians said left 20 people dead and heavily damaged houses, streets, and farms. The operation was aimed at finding tunnels and explosives.

The tunnel, which was 13 yards deep and 150 yards long and reinforced with wooden beams, was to be used to attack Israeli soldiers at the crossing, the army said.

The army also dropped pamphlets over Gaza City yesterday, warning people that the pedestrian and commerical crossings leading out of Gaza will remain closed as long as militants try to attack them.

Fifteen militants and five civilians died in the airstrikes and gun battles that began late Saturday in Shajaiyeh, Palestinian hospital officials said yesterday. Rescue personnel said they also found part of a Palestinian man's body in a field, but didn't immediately know whether he was an additional casualty or a previously reported one.

The army began its wide-scale offensive in Gaza after Hamas-allied militants used a tunnel to sneak into Israel on June 25 and attack an army post, capturing Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit.

The offensive also was intended to stop militant rocket attacks on Israel.