GAZA STRIP Palestinian rockets hit southern Israel

Israeli tanks and bulldozers blocked roads in the Gaza strip.
BEIT HANOUN, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Palestinian militants fired a new barrage of makeshift rockets into southern Israel early today, despite the launch of an Israeli offensive meant to halt such attacks.
The salvo, which moderately wounded one man, came a day after a rocket attack killed two Israelis, including a 3-year-old boy, in the border town of Sderot.
The pre-dawn Israeli military operation came in response to the Sderot attack. It marked the first time in nearly four years of fighting that the crude homemade Qassam missiles killed Israelis.
Roads blocked
Under the cover of intense machine gun fire, Israeli tanks and bulldozers blocked roads in the northern Gaza Strip -- the start of what security officials said could be an extended operation in the area.
One Palestinian militant was killed and five were wounded, Palestinian security officials said.
Despite the upsurge in violence, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Monday that he remains determined to withdraw from Gaza in 2005. Addressing lawmakers, Sharon pledged to speed up the evacuation of Israeli settlers who are ready to leave voluntarily.
Sharon's vice premier, Ehud Olmert, said even as plans for withdrawal proceed, Israel will continue to strike at militants. "There is a war against terror, and we shall continue fighting terror regardless of disengagement."
Speaking to Army Radio, Olmert said the war would continue even after the Israeli pullout.
Focus of operation
The Israeli operation today was focused around the town of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza.
By midmorning, the army had sealed all entrances to the town. A bulldozer moved sand piles near one of the exits, and an Apache helicopter hovered overhead.
Witnesses said the army fired warning shots at a group of youths who threw stones at a bulldozer. No injuries were reported.
Despite the crackdown, militants managed to fire three more Qassam rockets into southern Israel early today.
One rocket fell in the community of Shaar Hanegev, moderately injuring one person at a packing plant, said Yeruham Mandola, a spokesman for Israeli rescue services.
Another rocket fell in Sderot's vegetable market, he said. The third rocket fell in a field, Army Radio reported.
Israeli army helicopters fired heavy machine gun fire in the Gaza Strip area adjacent to Shaar Hanegev in response to today's barrage.
Over the weekend, Palestinian militants dug a 1,000 foot tunnel and detonated hundreds of pounds of explosives underneath an army outpost, killing a soldier and wounding five others.
Taking credit
Hamas claimed responsibility for both attacks, and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades said it participated in blowing up the outpost.
In an initial response to the pair of extraordinary attacks, Israeli helicopters fired missiles at a Hamas-linked media center in a 16-story building in Gaza City and a metal workshop in a refugee camp early today. The army said rockets were being made at the workshop.