Palestinian militants fire rockets from Gaza

Palestinian militants fired two rockets at Israel from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip today after Israeli troops earlier killed…

Palestinian militants fired two rockets at Israel from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip today after Israeli troops earlier killed an unarmed Palestinian from the coastal area.

The rockets landed in an open area in southern Israel and no one was hurt, police said.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a militant faction of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement, said it fired the rockets in response to Israeli violations of the June 19th ceasefire, and Israel's killing of one of its members.

An Israeli army spokesman said soldiers shot dead a Palestinian who crossed into Israel from Gaza and ignored their calls to stop. Only later, Israeli forces saw that he had not been carrying a weapon, the spokesman said.

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It was the first death along the Israel-Gaza frontier since the Egyptian-brokered truce went into effect. A Hamas spokesman said the killing was "a serious challenge" to the ceasefire.

The truce deal calls on Hamas to prevent cross-border rocket fire and attacks from the Gaza Strip and on Israel to halt its raids and ease an economic blockade.

Israel tightened restrictions on the passage of people and goods to and from the impoverished territory after Hamas seized control of it a year ago. United Nations officials said Gaza's goods crossings were still shut often despite the truce.