Hamas says it launched deadly strike

GAZA, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Hamas claimed responsibility for firing more than 20 Qassam rockets from the Gaza Strip on Israeli targets, including a college where a student was killed.

Twenty-three rockets struck a factory in an industrial zone and landed in and around Sderot and other Israeli communities near Gaza, Ynetnews.com reported. The college near Sderot was a frequent target of rockets fired from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

Israel launched a counterstrike, targeting a suspected rocket cell in northern Gaza, defense officials said. The attack killed one person and injured three others, CNN said.

Also Wednesday, Israeli air strikes killed five Hamas members as they were driving to a military facility in southern Gaza, officials said. Three of the five killed were senior members of the Hamas Qassam Brigade's missile unit, Palestinian sources told DEBKAfile.com, a military intelligence Web site based in Jerusalem.

In the West Bank, a gunman killed Wednesday in Nablus was identified as a high-ranking leader of the Fatah Tanzim group, Israeli defense officials said.

Ibrahim Masyami, 23, was killed and three terrorists were wounded during a raid on a terror cell police said was plotting to attack Israel, Ynetnews.com reported. A fourth person was taken into custody.