10 September 2010 Last updated at 10:58 ET

Israel, Palestinian militants trade fire at Gaza border

Israel warplanes struck a series of targets in the Gaza Strip on Thursday

There have been exchanges of fire near the Israel-Gaza border, wounding five Palestinians and damaging property.

Militants in Gaza have fired at least five rockets or mortar rounds into Israel since Monday.

Israel said it struck two Hamas sites in the Gaza Strip late on Thursday, but Palestinian officials said five people were hurt in four separate air raids.

Hours later, on Friday, Gaza militants again fired a rocket into southern Israel, a military spokeswoman said.

The rocket exploded in the southern Shaar Hanegev area close to Gaza's north-eastern border with Israel. Two days ago, a mortar shell landed near a kindergarten in the same community.

There were no reports of injuries or damage in either attack.

The Hamas government has largely refrained from carrying out attacks since Israel's assault on Gaza in the winter of 2008, and has at times tried to rein in other armed groups from attacking.

But with the resumption of peace talks, the militant group has threatened to change its policy.

The latest exchanges come as Israeli and Palestinian leaders prepare to hold direct peace talks in Egypt on Tuesday.

The talks - which kicked off in Washington last week - are the first direct negotiations between the two sides in almost two years.