During the assault, an Israeli F-16 fired a missile at a target in the city's Zeitoun district, but there were no casualties, said the sources.

Three of the raids targetted bases of the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. These attacks caused significant damage both to the targets and to neighbouring houses.

Two other raids targetted the north and south of the city.

An Israeli army statement said it had carried out three air raids.

Two had targetted "terrorist targets" in the central Gaza Strip, in what appeared to be a reference to Brigade sites.

A third had been on a tunnel intended for armed raids into Israel or operations against army positions along the border with the Gaza Strip, said the statement.

The army said the raids had come after a rocket was fired Saturday from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel.

"This morning a rocket fired from Gaza fell in the western sector of the Negev (desert in southern Israel), without causing any casualties or damage," an army spokeswoman said earlier.

Last Sunday, Israeli tank fire on a group of militants in Gaza City killed one Palestinian, after rocket and mortar attacks on Israel and air raids launched in reprisal.

Since the beginning of the year, army figures show more than 60 rockets or mortar rounds have been fired into southern Israel. Many have prompted retaliatory air raids.

The attacks have continued despite calls by Hamas for armed groups to respect a truce with Israel.

earlier related report
Israeli fear stepped up world pressure: survey
Jerusalem (AFP) March 5, 2011 - Most Israelis believe their country will come under increased international pressure to strike a peace accord with the Palestinians in the aftermath of massive Arab uprisings, public radio said on Saturday, citing an opinion poll.

The survey said 55 percent of those polled said they expect stepped up pressure while 34 percent disagreed and 11 percent had no opinion.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing growing isolation over the impasse in peace talks and planning a new initiative to set up a Palestinian state within temporary borders, press reports said on Friday.

He is largely expected to announce his new diplomatic initiative during a visit to the United States in May.

Details are still sketchy, but the idea is believed to involve establishing a Palestinian state within temporary borders, while providing guarantees about talks on final status issues, the Maariv newspaper said.

But Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas reiterated on Saturday he will only accept a deal that calls for a Palestinian state with borders that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War.

During that conflict Israel seized the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, as well as east Jerusalem -- the mostly Arab part of the city now annexed by Israel that the Palestinians want as the capital of their future state.

Since peace talks ran aground late last year over an intractable dispute about settlements, the Palestinians have been pursuing a raft of diplomatic initiatives aimed at garnering world support for a unilateral declaration of independence.

Several nations -- notably Latin American countries -- have also announced their recognition of a Palestinian state.

Israel is fiercely opposed to such a move, arguing that negotiations are the only way to end the conflict and establish a Palestinian state.

But there are also other reasons forcing Netanyahu to come up with a fresh political initiative -- namely, Israel's growing diplomatic isolation.

That isolation was clearly demonstrated last month when 14 out of 15 members of the UN Security Council voted in favour of a resolution condemning Jewish settlement activity.

The resolution was quashed when the United States vetoed it.

A total of 500 people were surveyed by an independent polling institute which placed the margin of error at 4.5 percentage points.

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