GAZA CITY – Israel's military has launched an offensive in the Gaza Strip in another effort to halt Palestinian missile and bombing attacks.

Israeli infantry, air and armored units attacked Gaza City in the largest operation in more than a month. Israeli and Palestinian sources reported heavy fighting in the Zeitoun neighborhood, a Hamas and Islamic Jihad stronghold in the southern part of Gaza City.

Eight Palestinians were killed and 11 others were injured during battles in Gaza City and the southern city of Rafah, Palestinian sources said.

Palestinian insurgents faced Israeli forces with anti-tanks weapons, rocket-propelled grenades and semi-automatic fire. They said an Israeli main battle tank was damaged by a mine.

On late Saturday, Palestinian insurgents from Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, accompanied by youngsters, tried to storm Israeli military outposts along a road used by Israeli residents of the central Gaza Strip. Israeli troops opened fire and a Jihad operative was said to have been killed.

Over the last week, Palestinian gunners have carried out a series of lethal attacks in the Gaza Strip against Israeli civilian and military targets. On Jan. 13, six Israeli employees were killed in a Palestinian insurgency attack on the Karni terminal in the eastern Gaza Strip. Israel has accused PA security officers of being involved in the bombing.

On Saturday, Hamas gunners fired Kassam-class short-range missiles into the Israeli city of Sderot. Five Israelis were injured, one of them critically.