The Middle East was braced for a fresh cycle of violence yesterday night after an Israeli woman was killed in the town of Sderot by a homemade rocket fired from the Gaza Strip by Palestinian Arab fighters.

She was the first Israeli to be killed in a Palestinian Arab rocket attack for 16 months although Israeli military operations against the rocket threat have killed scores of Palestinian Arab civilians in the same period.

With the Israeli government promising to exact a “heavy price” for yesterday’s attack, and Palestinian Arab militants firing more salvoes, further bloodshed was inevitable.

Late last night, two qassams — homemade rockets — hit the center of Sderot, seriously injuring a teenager. They landed near the main police station.

While militants have fired thousands of qassams on to Israeli territory, Fa’ina Slutzker, 57, who immigrated to Israel from central Asia three years ago, was the first to die in a direct hit since July 2005.

The unguided rocket exploded as she walked across a park just after 8 a.m.

A 24-year-old security guard on duty at the nearby house of Defense Minister Amir Peretz suffered leg injuries. He was in a critical condition after a double amputation.

Mr. Peretz led Israeli calls for revenge, saying, “Terror organizations will pay a heavy price.”

Public Defense Minister Avi Dichter said the Israeli army operations against qassam rocketeers in Gaza must be stepped up. “The current operation is not sufficient,” he said.

Responsibility for the fatal attack was claimed jointly by a hard-line Palestinian Arab movement, Islamic Jihad, and the military wing of Hamas, the Izzedine Al-Qassam Brigades.

The rocket was fired from Beit Hanoun, the town occupied by the Israeli army this month in an evidently unsuccessful attempt to neutralize the rocket threat.