Gaza militants claimed responsibility on Thursday for launching two homemade rockets from the Gaza Strip at southern Israeli towns in the vicinity of the enclave.

Al-Aqsa Brigades, Fatah movement's armed wing, said in a leaflet that its militants fired one rocket at the town of Ashkelon in southern Israel, adding "the rocket attack is a response to Israeli daily violation of the ceasefire."

Meanwhile, Israeli Radio reported that another rocket landed on Thursday morning on an opened area near the southern Israeli town of Sderot, causing no damages or injured.

The two rockets were the first to be fired at Israel since the end of the Israeli assault on Gaza, in addition to several mortar shells fired by Islamic groups of Hamas and Jihad at Israeli ground forces in southeast Gaza Strip.

Israel has declared a unilateral ceasefire on January 18, ending 22 days of military assault on the Gaza Strip that left around 1,400 people killed and 5,500 wounded. The Israeli declaration was followed by a unilateral Gaza militants' declaration of a one-week ceasefire.

The escalation of violence between the two sides came as Hamas negotiators are holding talks in Cairo with Egyptian mediators to reach a long-term ceasefire with Israel.

Israeli F16 warplanes fired two bombs at predawn at Rafah town in southern Gaza Strip. One rocket hit a metal workshop, and the other hit the borderline area between the town and Egypt. No injuries are reported.

(Xinhua News Agency January 29, 2009)