Israel vows to keep up Gaza strikes

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel vowed on Sunday to keep up its strikes on militants in Gaza as a soldier was wounded by mortar shells fired from the lawless territory by the armed wing of Hamas.

One soldier was moderately wounded and three suffered light injuries when mortar shells near the Erez border crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip, the army said.

In Gaza City, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, the senior partner in the Palestinian unity cabinet, claimed responsibility for the fire, which also struck a kibbutz without causing injuries.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed the army would continue its strikes on gunmen despite a drop in projectiles fired by militants at the weekend.

"In view of what appears to be a drop in Qassam fire, I would like to make it clear that we are not negotiating," Olmert said at the weekly cabinet meeting, referring to the homemade rockets.

"We are not committing ourselves to changing the patterns of our operations," he said.