Gaza militants launched several rockets and mortar shells into southern Israel on Sunday, wounding three people.

The attack drew a threat of a "disproportionate" response from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Israel retaliated by bombing Hamas targets in Gaza during the night.

Israeli police say mortar shells from Gaza hit the village of Nahal Oz on Sunday afternoon, wounding two soldiers and a civilian.

One of the rockets landed near a kindergarten in an Israeli community next to Gaza.

The flare-up in violence came just over a week before Israel's general elections. During a cabinet meeting, Olmert insisted there would be a harsh response to the Hamas rocket fire.

Ehud Olmert, Israeli PM, said, "In this case of fire against civilians in southern Israel, there will be a harsh Israeli reaction. It is going to be - by its nature - disproportionate."

Followed Olmert's hard-line response, Israeli aircraft bombed several Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Sunday night. Hamas says the aircraft carried out three strikes. One hit a police station and the other two targeted smuggling tunnels in Rafah.

Sunday's violence further damaged the fragile cease-fire that ended Israel's Gaza offensive on January 18.

The truce has been breached several times, making diplomatic efforts to build a lasting agreement difficult.

(CCTV February 2, 2009)