MID:Barrage of Gaza rockets after Israeli ceasefire announcement
18 Jan 2009 10:30 AM
JERUSALEM, Jan 18 AFP - Palestinian militants launched at least eight rockets from the Gaza Strip following Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's announcement of a unilateral ceasefire, according to the military.
The Islamist Hamas movement and other armed groups have fired over 30 rockets and mortar rounds in the last 24 hours, despite ongoing air strikes and tank shelling across the territory aimed at halting such attacks.
The projectiles fired from Gaza did not wound anyone, according to the Israeli military, which closely tracks the rockets and their impact.
Since Israel launched its deadliest offensive ever on the besieged Palestinian territory militants have fired nearly 800 projectiles at southern Israel, killing three civilians and an Israeli soldier.
Since the war was launched with a surprise aerial bombardment on December 27, at least 1,200 Palestinians have been killed, a third of them children, according to Gaza medics.
