By Avida Landau JERUSALEM, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday that Israel would target all those responsible for cross-border rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, amid calls by top ministers to assassinate Hamas political leaders. "We will continue to target all terror elements, those who are responsible for them, those who send them," Olmert told his cabinet. "We will not give special consideration to anyone." He was speaking one day after a rocket seriously wounded two Israelis, including an eight-year-old boy, in the centre of the Israeli town of Sderot, about 5 km (3 miles) from the Gaza Strip, controlled since last June by the Islamist group Hamas. Gaza militants often fire short-range rockets and mortars at towns in southern Israel in what they say is a response to Israeli attacks on the territory. Few cause damage or injury, the rockets spark widespread panic among residents. Vice Premier Haim Ramon said Israel, which had assassinated senior Palestinian leaders including Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in 2004, should "rain fire" on areas of Gaza from which cross-border rockets are fired. Cabinet minister Meir Sheetrit said Israel should order Palestinian residents of those areas to leave their homes and "demolish everything". Ramon, Sheetrit and cabinet minister Zeev Boim said anyone involved in the rocket attacks, either directly or indirectly, should be targeted for assassination. Sheetrit singled out Ismail Haniyeh, prime minister of Hamas's government in the Gaza Strip, as a "legitimate target". Defence Minister Ehud Barak, during a visit to Sderot, said the military will "strike with all our means" militants firing the rockets. "You can hear the helicopter gunships in the air. We will continue to act until we bring an end to the Qassam (rocket) fire," Barak said. Hamas, which seized Gaza in June after routing rival forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said it carried out Saturday's Sderot attack. A Hamas militant was killed in an Israeli air strike overnight in the southern Gaza Strip. As part of a campaign to stop the rocket fire and isolate Hamas, Israel has stepped military action and tightened its blockade of the coastal territory. Human rights groups criticise what they call "collective punishment" against Gaza's 1.5 million residents. (Additional reporting by Avida Landau; Writing by Adam Entous; editing by Sami Aboudi)
Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak (R) and Sderot's Mayor Eli Moyal (L) visit the site of Saturday's rocket attack in the southern town of Sderot February 10, 2008, in this picture ...
