Gaza City  - A barrage of rockets hit Israeli towns early Saturday as Palestinian militants again breached an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

On Saturday morning, the Islamic Jihad faction said it fired 10 homemade rockets into Israeli cities near the Gaza Strip.

The al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the less-influential Islamic Jihad, said six of the rockets were fired at Sderot city, north-east of the Gaza Strip, and four missiles were aimed at the coastal city of Ashkelon.

Israeli planes responded by bombing four abandoned rocket launchers in the northern Gaza Strip, the Islamic Jihad said. No injuries were reported.

The Hamas movement violated the deal earlier this week after Israeli airstrikes killed six of its militants in Gaza.

Meanwhile, Palestinian gunmen engaged an Israeli special forces unit in the northern Gaza Strip.

The National Resistance Committees, the armed wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, claimed responsibility for the clashes which caused no injuries on both sides. (dpa)