Palestinian militants fire rocket into Israel

GAZA - Palestinian militants fired a rocket Saturday from the Gaza Strip into Israel, the first such attack since direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) resumed two days ago.

The armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committee (PRC), a group loyal to Islamic Hamas movement which controls Gaza, claimed responsibility for the attack that caused no damage or casualties, Xinhua reported.

The attack was “in response to the ongoing crimes by the Israeli occupation and to emphasise the liberation of all Palestinian land in this way,” the PRC said in a statement.

Israel’s Radio said the missile landed in an uninhabited area in the western part of the Negev desert.

Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since 2007, maintains a shaky ceasefire with Israel after its army ended a three-week operation in the coastal enclave in Jan 2009.

Thirteen Gaza-based militant groups, including Hamas, promised Thursday to step up attacks on Israeli targets to foil the peace talks in Washington as Israel did not commit to stop Jewish settlement.

Militants from Hamas attacked two Israeli cars in West Bank Tuesday and Wednesday, killing four settlers in the first attack near Hebron city and injuring two in the second shooting.