Palestinian militants on Wednesday launched several home-made rockets and mortar shells into various Israeli targets in response to the death of an Islamic Jihad commander in an Israeli raid.

The commander, Yousef al-Simiri, was killed last night in clashes with Israeli special forces which stormed al-Garara village to the east of southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis and surrounded his house. Paramedics found his body before dawn after the forces withdrew.

Saraya al-Quds, the Islamic Jihad's armed wing, said it had fired two rockets into Sderot city in southern Israel. In a statement sent to the media, the Saraya said that four mortar shells were also fired at Kissufim commercial crossing near al-Garara.

Meanwhile, the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claimed responsibility for firing two makeshift rockets which the Israeli radio said landed in open areas in Western Negev.

In their statements, the factions said the shelling was to retaliate the killing of al-Simiri and another 20-day-old baby who was also killed during the Israeli operation in the village.

Earlier, Israeli aircraft fired three rockets into open spaces near Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza Strip, causing no casualties. The Israeli army withdrew from the east of Jabaliya early on Monday after a two-day incursion that killed dozens of Palestinians.

(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2008)