Israel bombs Gaza, 10 dead

The flare-up smashed the relative lull in violence that had surrounded an Egyptian-mediated prisoner swap last week between the Jewish state and Islamist Hamas, which is negotiating a fraught power-share with its U.S.-backed Palestinian rivals.

The air strike on the training camp in southern Rafah followed a rocket launch this week which the Israelis blamed on Islamic Jihad. That attack caused no casualties but the rocket landed deep enough to set off sirens on Tel Aviv's outskirts.

Islamic Jihad said one of its commanders, Ahmed al-Sheikh Khalil, and four comrades who had overseen production of bombs and rockets for the faction died in the mid-day strike. Two other fighters were wounded.

Israel's military said its aircraft "targeted a terrorist squad ... that was preparing to launch long-range rockets".

It said in a statement that those hit were responsible for the rocket launch late on Wednesday, though no Palestinian faction had claimed responsibility.

Islamic Jihad, a sometime Hamas ally that has recently chafed at its rule, vowed revenge, a call echoed by smaller Gaza groups.

"There is no chance of speaking about a truce now, following such a big crime against leaders of the group," said Islamic Jihad spokesman Abu Ahmed.

By evening, at least 20 rockets and mortar bombs hit southern Israel, killing a 50-year-old man in coastal Ashkelon and wounding two other civilians, police said.

Islamic Jihad and the more secular factions Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and al-Aqsa Martyears Brigades separately took credit; Kazinform cites China Daily.

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