Israeli aircraft attacks Palestinian rocket squad

GAZA, May 7 (Reuters) An Israeli aircraft attacked a car carrying an Islamic Jihad rocket-firing squad in the Gaza Strip today, wounding one militant, the group said.

An Israeli military spokesman said the air strike, in the northern part of the territory, had targeted a vehicle carrying weapons.

Islamic Jihad, which has carried out numerous rockets attacks against Israel from the northern Gaza Strip, said one of its squads was on its way to a launch site when its car was attacked by an Israeli aircraft.

Describing the air strike as ''an assassination attempt'', the group said the men managed to flee before the vehicle was hit by a missile but one of the gunmen was wounded.

Israeli leaders have threatened to step up attacks against militants involved in the launching of homemade rockets from the Gaza Strip. An Israeli was wounded yesterday when a rocket landed in the southern town of Sderot.

Islamic Jihad was not a party to a Gaza ceasefire agreed by Israel and several other militant groups last November.

REUTERS SYU PM1950