GAZA, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Saraya al-Quds, Islamic Jihad armed wing, claimed responsibility on Sunday for launching a number of homemade rockets at Israeli towns in the vicinity of the Gaza Strip.

    The group said in separate statements sent to the press that its militants fired several rockets at the Israeli town of Sderot in southern Israel, adding that the rockets hit the town and caused damages there.

    It said in another statement that its militants confronted "the invading Israeli army forces into the Gaza Strip," adding "our fighters had heavy clashes with the Zionist soldiers in northern Gaza Strip."

    "Our fighters blew up a roadside bomb at a group of soldiers outside Beit Hanoun town. Several soldiers were hit," said the statement, adding "We saw Israeli helicopters evacuating the wounded soldiers from the area."

    It added "Saraya al-Quds are going through heavy clashes with the enemy, and those attacks are a response to the awful crimes carried out against our people in the Gaza Strip."

    Meanwhile, Israeli Radio Arabic service reported that five Israeli residents of Sderot were injured on Sunday after a homemade rocket fired from Gaza hit a house.

    Mo'aweya Hassanein, chief of emergency and ambulance services in the Palestinian health ministry, said that 514 Palestinians were killed and over 2500 wounded since the start of the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip on Dec. 27.