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Hamas militants have fired rockets into southern Israel

Hamas fired rockets at southern Israel, hitting a house and a Jewish seminary just hours after five Hamas policemen were killed in Israeli air strikes.

No one was hurt in the rocket strikes.

In another incident, nine Palestinians were injured, including four by live fire, after youths pelted rocks at Israeli army jeeps in the West Bank, medics said.

The newest round of Gaza-Israel fighting began on Friday when Hamas militants fired mortar shells that killed a 48-year-old Israeli man while he was gardening in a communal farm on the border with Gaza.

The fighting threatened fragile Egyptian efforts to broker a cease-fire on the Gaza-Israel border.

Hamas militants said they fired 15 home-made rockets at Israel on Saturday. The Israeli military said one directly hit a house in the border town of Sderot, a frequent target for militants, another landed next to a Jewish seminary and a third in the courtyard of a local college.

Nobody was hurt in the barrage, which came after Israel fired missiles at two Hamas police stations late on Friday, killing five militants.

Palestinian militants frequently fire crude rockets and mortars into southern Israel from Gaza, killing 14 people in all since late 2001.

The attacks often provoke Israeli airstrikes and ground incursions that kill far more Palestinians, although hostilities have ebbed since more than 120 Palestinians were killed in a flare-up of violence two months ago.

In the northern West Bank town of Jaba, Palestinian youths hurled rocks and firebombs at Israeli army jeeps on Saturday. Residents said soldiers fired live rounds and rubber-coated steel pellets. Medics said nine Palestinians were hurt, four by live rounds and five by rubber bullets. The army reported activity in the area, but had no further details.