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Israel launched air strikes against a number of targets in Gaza Monday to retaliate against Palestinian militants who have fired a "barrage" of rockets inside the Jewish state in recent days, the military said.

Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud movement maintains a slim lead ahead of next week's parliamentary elections in Israel, but Tzipi Livni's ruling centrist Kadima party still has a chance to pull out a victory, a win that would give it the first opportunity to form a new coalition government, according to polls published on Friday.

As Israel prepared to launch its assault into Gaza in late December, it braced for substantial casualties among its own troops. Commanders warned their men of Hamas' suicide commandos, missiles that could smash tanks and knock helicopters out of the sky, and long-range rockets that could reach deeper into Israel.

Palestinian militants fired mortar shells from southern Gaza at Israel and Israel carried out an air strike against what the military said were members of the launching squad.

Gaza militants launched two rockets into southern Israel Sunday, drawing a threat of “harsh and disproportionate” retaliation from Israel’s prime minister.

Palestinian militants fired a rocket from Gaza on Saturday that exploded close to the southern Israeli town of Ashkelon without causing any damages or injuries, an Israeli military spokesman said. Israeli forces and Gaza militants are supposed to refrain from attacking each other under a fragile cease-fire. The truce has been breached several times, making diplomatic efforts to build a lasting agreement difficult.

Senior officials in the Islamic group Hamas are indicating a willingness to negotiate a deal for a long-term truce with Israel as long as the borders of Gaza are opened to the rest of the world.

New US special envoy George Mitchell begins his Middle East tour in Cairo Tuesday with a brief from President Barack Obama to "engage vigorously" to achieve real progress in Arab-Israeli peace efforts.

The Israeli military said that Palestinians detonated an explosive device near troops patrolling on the Israeli side of the Gaza border in the first incident since the cease-fire.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says Israel will protect from prosecution any of its soldiers accused of war crimes in Gaza.