GAZA CITY, Nov 15: An Israeli man and a woman were killed by Palestinian rocket fire from Gaza on Wednesday, sparking warnings by the Jewish state it would expand its lethal four-month offensive in the coastal strip.

Fatima Slutsker, a 57-year-old mother of two, died of wounds sustained when a rocket fell in a street in the town of Sderot, five kilometres north of Gaza City.

A 24-year-old man died after he was seriously wounded in the strike, one of six rockets to fall on Sderot in the morning hours, one of them not far from

the house of Defence Minister Amir Peretz, who lives in the town.

In a statement, the defence minister vowed that the Jewish state would strike against those behind the rocket fire.

“These organizations will pay a heavy price,” he said. “We will move against those who are involved in the firing of rockets, starting from their leaders and down to the last of their terrorists.”—AFP