An Israeli police officer carries a rocket, fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip, after it landed in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod, Thursday, March 24, 2011. Israeli aircraft struck the Gaza Strip on Thursday in response to militant rocket and mortar attacks, stoking concerns that a grave new round of hostilities will fill the vacuum left by an impasse in Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)