Israel launches Gaza air strike

Smoke rises at scene of blast in Jabaliya refugee camp

The truck was surrounded by people when the blast happened

Israeli planes have carried out an air strike on the northern Gaza Strip - the first such raid since its military withdrawal earlier this month.

The strike came after more than 21 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip, injured five Israelis in Sderot.

Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz had vowed a firm response to any attacks coming from Gaza.

On Friday evening an explosion at a rally held by the Palestinian militants of Hamas left 15 dead.

The Palestinian authorities said the blast, which also injured 80 people, appeared to have been caused by the mishandling of explosives and that the militants were fully responsible.

Hamas itself blamed Israel, but the Israeli army said it had had nothing to do with the explosion.

Three strikes

The Israeli military said its air strike was aimed at a Hamas weapons warehouse in the Jabaliya refugee camp, where Friday's rally was held. Two more missiles were fired at targets in Gaza City.

The rockets appear to have caused little damage, and there are so far no reports of injuries.

The casualties in Sderot were caused by shrapnel from the Qassam rockets, one of which landed near a sports hall in the town centre.

Sderot is located near the border to the north-east of the Gaza Strip.

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for firing 10 home-made rockets into Israel on Friday, following the killing of three of its leaders by Israeli troops in Tulkarm.

Israel said the militants were killed after opening fire on troops who were trying to arrest them.

White smoke

The ruling Palestinian Fatah faction said it held Hamas responsible for the explosion at Friday's rally, when a truck carrying gunmen and home-made weapons blew up.

Palestinian witnesses said a crowd, including many children, swarmed round the truck moments before the explosion. Video filmed during the rally showed a large cloud of white smoke rising into the sky, as hundreds of people ran from the scene of the blast.

The pictures also showed several badly injured bodies on the ground.

An unnamed witness was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying "I was thrown several metres, then I looked behind and I saw people dismembered and lying on the ground dead."

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction said it held Hamas "fully responsible for the victims of the military parade [that was held] among civilians".

Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, completed on 12 September, ended 38 years of military occupation of the territory.