Palestinian militants attack Israeli jeeps, launch rockets at southern Israel

Palestinian militant groups on Thursday claimed responsibility for carrying out attacks on Israeli targets in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and southern Israel in response to the ongoing Israeli military operation.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of the Fatah movement, said that it fired a homemade rocket "with chemical warhead" at the southern Israeli city of Sderot.

But Israel did not confirm it yet.

"This was the first such attack," the group said in a written statement, promising "a new phase of military action to face the Israeli aggression."

Gunmen of the group also ambushed an Israeli army jeep in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, the group said in another statement.

"The jeep was hit directly," the statement said.

Meanwhile, Saraya al-Quds Brigades of the Islamic Jihad (Holy War) claimed responsibility for launching two rockets at an Israeli army position outside the Gaza Strip borders where Israeli troops and tanks were deployed.

The group said the rockets hit the target.

The attacks came in response to the Israeli operation code- named Summer Rain carried out early Wednesday against the Gaza Strip in a bid to free a soldier who was abducted by Palestinian militiamen on Sunday.

Source: Xinhua