Special report: Palestine-Israel Relations    

A medic walks past the body of an Israeli citizen killed by a Palestinian mortar attack at the Kfar Aza Kibutz May 9, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    GAZA, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian armed groups on Saturday fired more rockets into southern Israel and Western Negev, hours after Israeli strikes in Gaza killed five Hamas policemen.

    After midnight, Israeli bombed two police stations in southern Gaza Strip towns of Khan Younis and Rafah, killing five and hurting several others, hours after Palestinian militants fired a mortar and killed an Israeli woman and wounded three others in a southern Israeli Kibbutz.

Medics remove the body of an Israeli citizen killed by a Palestinian mortar attack at the Kfar Aza Kibutz May 9, 2008.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    Israeli sources said that the latest round of rocket barrage targeted its southern territories, adding that seven makeshift rockets landed into Sderot city and one hit a house, causing damage and three shock injuries.

    Ezz el-Deen al-Qassam, Hamas' military wing, claimed responsibility for launching 15 rockets at Sderot between 7:30 - 8:30 (0430-0530 GMT) this morning. In a press release, the group said the attack was in response to the death of the five policemen.

    Meanwhile, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said its fighters targeted Israeli army posts around the Gaza Strip with six mortar shells. It also claimed responsibility for firing two rockets at Sderot and Israel' s port city of Ashkelon.

    Other leftist groups said they fired a number of mortars into Israeli communities from Gaza Strip.

    The escalation of violence comes despite the Palestinian factions' acceptance of an Egyptian-proposed ceasefire. Israel did not yet respond to the Egyptian proposal.

    Hamas rules the Gaza Strip since last June when it took over the coastal enclave from security forces of President Mahmoud Abbas.