Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz on Thursday ordered Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to step up actions against the Islamic Jihad after the group fired a Katyusha rocket into southern Israel.

Mofaz has also ordered the IDF to increase arrest raids and targeted killings against military groups with the Islamic Jihad in particular, local newspaper Haaretz reported.

An armed wing of the Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility on Wednesday for firing a Katyusha rocket from the Gaza Strip into southern Israeli coastal city Ashkelon on Tuesday.

The rocket landed in an open area early in the morning, without explosion.

It was the first time that a longer-range rocket than the Qassam rocket was fired from Gaza into southern Israel.

The Katyusha rocket, with an estimated range of 24 km, is 15 km longer than a Qassam rocket, which is often fired into southern Israel by militants from Gaza.

The longer-range rocket poses threat to a larger number of Israeli towns and villages, which are in danger of being hit by rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, including Ashkelon.

Mofaz's order also came one day after a new Palestinian government led by Hamas, or the Islamic Resistance Movement that is committed to destroying Israel, was sworn in formally.

Mofaz said that from now on, everything that takes place in the Palestinian territories is the responsibility of Hamas.

He stressed that there would be no talks with the militant group until it renounces terror, recognizes Israel and agrees to honor former agreements.

Hamas, listed as a terror group by Israel, came to power after its landslide victory in a Palestinian parliamentary election in January. It was involved in many a suicide bombing attacks against Israel but kept a ceasefire agreement largely in 2005.

However, the smaller Islamic Jihad has been behind most of the attacks against Israel during the truce period in 2005.

Source: Xinhua