Hamas militants defied Israeli air strikes and threats to kill their top leaders, firing more rockets into Israel, as the Palestinian president arrived in Gaza in an effort to defuse the escalating conflict.

Israel today promised a punishing response to the first deadly Palestinian rocket attack on the Israeli town of Sderot since the Gaza Strip evacuation last year, even as Palestinian leaders and international envoys pursued diplomatic efforts to spur deadlocked peacemaking.

An Israeli aircraft fired a missile at a home near a Hamas stronghold in the Jebaliya refugee camp today, killing one civilian and wounding eight other Palestinians, hospital officials said.

Palestinian militants fired a new barrage of makeshift rockets into southern Israel early today, despite the launch of an Israeli offensive meant to halt such attacks.