Hamas shoots rockets at Israeli towns

GAZA, June 7 (UPI) -- More rocket attacks and resulting deaths were reported Tuesday in the Middle East, further threatening the increasingly shaky truce.

Two people died in an attack at Ganei Tal in the Gaza Strip Tuesday afternoon while Hamas militants earlier also claimed responsibility for rocket attacks at two other Jewish settlements in Gaza, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Hamas said the attacks were in retaliation for the shooting deaths of an Islamic Jihad member and a Palestinian policeman and for an Israeli police raid Monday at al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

Several other attacks against Israel were claimed by Hamas, which said it was also retaliating for a Monday scuffle between Palestinian police and Israeli visitors at the Temple Mount.

"The Zionist enemy shoulders the full responsibility for its escalation and the Palestinian resistance has the right to retaliate against these aggressions," Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri said.

Twelve Kassams and 78 mortar shells have been fired at Israeli targets since the beginning of May, Israeli Defense Forces said.