Special report: Israel launches Gaza assault    

    JERUSALEM, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Israeli security cabinet authorized the army on Wednesday to set up a "security zone" in the northern Gaza Strip to prevent Palestinian militants from firing rockets onto Israel, Israel Radio reported.

    The report said that the decision was made at a security cabinet meeting which was convened by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert earlier on Wednesday after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza landed in Israel's coastal city of Ashkelon on Tuesday.

    No injuries were reported, but damage was caused to the school building which was hit by the rocket with a 9 km range, the Israeli army said.

    Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' armed wing which also took part in a June 25 cross-border raid during which an Israeli soldier was kidnapped, claimed responsibility for the rocket attack.

    Israeli troops continued a broad offensive in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday in a bid to rescue the abducted soldier.

    Palestinian militants have stepped up rocket firing on Israel during the past few months, but the rockets seldom land in Ashkelon and rarely result in casualties. Enditem