A rocket fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza killed an elderly woman and wounded another person in the Israeli town of Sderot today, medical officials said.
It was the first time since July 2005 that makeshift Palestinian rockets have killed Israelis in towns and villages that border the Gaza Strip.
The armed wing of the ruling Hamas Islamist movement said it had fired two rockets at Sderot. Israel's Channel 10 television said six rockets had hit the town around the morning rush hour.
Israel said it would respond.
"Palestinian rocket launchers take aim at Israeli civilians. We will not tolerate such attacks and will take whatever steps are necessary to neutralise this threat," said David Baker, an official in the Israeli prime minister's office.
Emergency services said the rocket that caused the casualties hit a street in a residential area. They said the woman was around 70 years old. Sderot is a frequent target for Palestinian rocket squads.
Last week 19 Palestinian civilians were killed in an Israeli artillery barrage on the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, which borders Sderot.
Israel said the barrage was aimed at areas used by militants to fire rockets into Israel but went off course due to a technical failure. Hamas and other armed groups had vowed revenge.