The Islamic Jihad (Holy War) claimed on Sunday responsibility for a rocket attack on the southern Israeli city of Sderot.

"The Islamic Jihad's armed wing, Quds Brigades, was responsible for firing four advanced rockets at Sderot settlement," the group said in a statement.

The statement said that the attack injured three Israelis, but Israeli sources said only two women suffered a shock.

The attack came "in retaliation to the Israeli killing of Mohamed al-Dahdouh, the engineer of Katyusha rockets," the statement said.

On Saturday, an Israeli airstrike killed al-Dahdouh and three others -- a child, his mother and grandmother, when al-Dahdouh's car was traveling in southern Gaza City.

Israel has accused al-Dahdouh of being behind Katyusha rocket attacks on the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon last week.

In response, Israeli artillery pounded open areas in northern Gaza Strip.

Medics at Shiffa Hospital said that two Palestinian civilians were injured in the shelling.

Source: Xinhua