Three Qassam rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into the Israeli community of Sderot early Wednesday morning. One rocket landed a short distance from the home of Defense Minister Amir Peretz. The latest bombardment comes one day after the first Israeli military ground operation in the Gaza Strip since Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from there last fall. Its purpose was to stem the flow of missiles that are launched almost daily toward Israeli targets. A residential building was heavily damaged in Wednesday’s attack. Before the latest rocket barrage, at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Peretz had promised that the army’s "large-scale activity against Qassam rocket launches in the Strip will continue by air, sea and land, in order to stop the firing."