Israel launches Artillery Strikes on Gaza

(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) Israel launched artillery strikes against the Gaza Strip as a barrage of rockets from the besieged coastal enclave hit southern Israel on Wednesday, with no reported injuries. An Israeli military spokeswoman said that Israeli forces had launched "artillery fire" at two locations in the northern and southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday afternoon, in response to a volley of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, reported the Palestinian Maan news agency. Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad earlier said it had fired 130 rockets into Israel, in response to an Israeli airstrike the day before that killed three Palestinian militants in the coastal enclave. The al-Quds Brigades, the group's armed wing, claimed responsibility for the operation, which it named "Breaking the Silence," adding that they were not breaking the truce between Israel and Gaza but were merely "responding" to the Israeli attack. The escalation came just hours after British Prime Minister David Cameron arrived on his first official visit to the region since taking over as premier in 201