Jihad said in a statement that the rocket was of a newly-upgraded type, called Quds 4, with a range of 12 kilometers. The Islamic group also said that the rocket attack was a retaliation for the Israeli killing of one of its leaders in southern Lebanon last Friday.

    Israel has denied any involvement in the incident. Meanwhile, Israeli sources said that two rockets landed in Sderot early on Wednesday, one of which hit and badly damaged a residential building near Defense Minister Peretz's home.

    One Israeli was also wounded in the rocket attack.The Israeli army responded to the assault with artillery shelling on the northern Gaza Strip, from which the rockets were believed to be launched.

    But an Israeli military spokesman told Xinhua that there was no immediate ground operation into the Gaza Strip being planned. On Tuesday, Peretz said that Israeli troops would continue to carry out operations against Palestinian militant rocket launch cells in the Gaza Strip to prevent more rocket fire.

    Peretz's statements came after Israeli troops intruded deep into the northern Gaza Strip on early Tuesday, the first such ground raid since Israel withdrew from the desert coastal strip last summer.

    Four Jihad militants on their way to fire rockets were killed by Israeli soldiers during the operation. Enditem