(dpa) - The five-day lull in violence ended Thursday when Israeli planes hit targets in northern Gaza after a dozen rockets were fired towards southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, according to the Israeli army.
The rockets from the Gaza Strip hit the Israeli border town of Sderot but there were no casualties.
On Wednesday Israeli soldiers killed five Palestinian militants during arrest raids in the northern and southern West Bank and the Islamic Jihad vowed to revenge the death of Karkour, the leader of the al-Quds Brigades, the Islamic Jihad's armed wing.
Gaza had been relatively calm over the past few days, with militants reducing their rocket attacks against southern Israel and the Israeli military scaling down operations in the Strip, amid reports the sides have reached an informal "truce" understanding.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniya Wednesday called Wednesday for an end to the economic blockade of the Gaza Strip and for a comprehensive truce in both Gaza and the West Bank.