Israel Air Force craft attacked Gaza militants just as they were about to launch rockets into Israel, IDF officials said on Saturday, with Palestinian sources reported that two were wounded following the attack.

An official at the IDF Spokesman´s Office indicated that the IAF vessels stuck the launching squad near the southern Strip town of Rafah.

Gaza health official Adham Abu Salmia said two people were wounded in the strike.

The strike came one day after the leader of the Gaza-based militant group Islamic Jihad said that his group is adhering to a cease-fire that stopped a barrage of rockets and air strikes between Israel and the Gaza Strip last month.

Sheik Nafez Azzam said Israeli reports that he had called for an ongoing struggle against Israel, despite a cease-fire, were mistaken.

We in the Islamic Jihad are committed to the cease-fire," Azzam told The Associated Press.

He said a firebrand speech calling for ongoing resistance was a general political statement.

"We are continuing the struggle and the jihad," Azzam said at a Gaza Strip rally in comments broadcast on Israeli television. "We will not be broken. We will not surrender. We will not accept the conditions Israel tries to impose." Azzam said the speech was delivered Thursday.

Israel´s Channel 2 had interpreted the speech as a signal that Islamic Jihad would continue "operations" against Israel despite the cease-fire that ended a weeklong exchange of fire in early March between Israel and Gaza.

Palestinian groups are frequently accused of sending one set of signals to radical supporters, and another set of signals to the outside world. (© Copyright 2012 Ha´aretz 04/08/12)