Two Qassam rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip on Monday, landing south of the city of Ashkelon and prompting an Israeli artillery strike. No injuries were reported on either side.
Israeli leaders threatened to intensify air strikes inside Gaza Strip to enforce a buffer zone aimed at curbing rocket fire. "Following the launching of Qassam rockets and mortar shells at Israeli targets, the Israeli army is now responding with artillery fire into an open area in the northern Gaza Strip from where Palestinians have been launching rockets," an Israeli army statement said.
Meanwhile, Palestinian election authorities cleared the way on Monday for Fatah to merge rival lists of candidates for a January parliamentary ballot.
Rivals in the ruling party had presented two candidate lists, then decided they wanted to merge them into one as a way to deal with the challenge presented by Hamas.
