Gaza rocket attack leaves 14 wounded

A ROCKET fired from the Gaza Strip hit a shopping mall in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon last night, wounding 14 people and impinging on celebrations of Israel's 60th anniversary being attended by the US president, George Bush.

Medical officials said three of the 14 had been seriously injured and that two infants were slightly wounded in the attack. Witnesses said the rocket slammed into the third floor of the mall, which housed a medical centre, and that several people were trapped when part of the building's roof collapsed.

Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, said Israel will take the "necessary steps" to stop attacks from Gaza.

While militants have fired homemade rockets into rural Israeli border towns for several years, only recently have they gained the capability to target Ashkelon, a city of 110,000 people about nine miles from the Gaza border