Gaza rocket kills Thai worker in Israel

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — A rocket fired by Gaza militants smashed into a greenhouse in an Israeli border village Thursday, killing a Thai worker in the first such death since Israel's massive offensive against Hamas-ruled Gaza more than a year ago.

The launch defied a long-standing ban by Hamas on such attacks and highlighted the growing challenge to the Islamic militant group from more radical rivals, including al-Qaida-inspired firebrands.

The Israeli air force responded early today by striking six targets in southern Gaza. The military identified the targets as three weapons-smuggling tunnels; two other tunnels that militants were digging to infiltrate into Israel; and a weapons workshop. No injuries were reported.

The rocket and the Israeli retaliation raised the specter of further conflagration at a time of renewed international focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel has drawn tough U.S. criticism in recent days for plans to build hundreds more homes for Jews in disputed east Jerusalem.

Major Mideast mediators — among them U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, European foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon — were to meet Friday in Moscow to seek a way forward after the row over Israel's building plan derailed plans to start indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks.

Ashton visited Gaza on Thursday, the first senior diplomat to set foot in the blockaded territory in more than a year. Half an hour after her convoy of white SUVs entered Gaza through a heavily fortified Israeli crossing, the rocket was fired into an Israeli communal farm on the Gaza border.

It slammed into a greenhouse, scattering potted tomato plants in all directions. The dead man was identified as a foreign worker in his 30s from Thailand.

Thousands of foreign laborers in Israel have taken on menial jobs that used to be filled by Gaza residents until a decade ago, when unrest prompted Israel to restrict Palestinian movement.

"Israel will not allow terrorism and Palestinian terrorists to continue their attacks and to kill Israelis," Israel's deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, said during a tour of the attack site.

Later, Israeli tanks fired several shells into Gaza, causing no damage or injuries, according to witnesses. The military said tanks fired at a suspect crawling near the security fence between Israel and Gaza.