Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed yesterday to respond "severely" to militant rocket strikes from Gaza as Tony Blair made his first visit to the war-battered enclave as Middle East Quartet envoy.

"If the rocket fire from Gaza continues, we will hit back severely, so much so that the terrorist organisations will understand that Israel is not ready to resign itself to this,"

Mr Olmert said at the weekly cabinet meeting.

"Defence Minister Ehud Barak will give directions so that Israeli forces bring calm to southern Israel," the outgoing premier said.

His comments came six weeks after the end of Israel's three-week war on Gaza, which left more than 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead and destroyed homes and infrastructure throughout the Hamas-ruled territory.

A rocket fired from Gaza slammed into empty ground south of the Israeli port city of Ashkelon on Sunday, causing neither casualties nor damage, after a volley of seven rockets fired from Gaza landed in Israel on Saturday.

Egyptian-mediated efforts to bring a lasting truce to Gaza have so far come to nothing, with sporadic militant rocket attacks and Israeli air strikes continuing since the offensive ended on January 18.

International donors are meeting in Egypt today to discuss efforts to rebuild the impoverished Gaza Strip, which has been all but cut off from the outside world since Hamas seized control in June 2007.

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