Dozen Israelis wounded by Palestinian rockets

Ten of the victims suffered slight injuries, while the other two were evacuated to a hospital in the southern Israeli city of Beersheva where they were said to be in a moderate condition, an army spokesman told AFP.

Eleven of the victims were soldiers while the 12th was thought to be a civilian, military sources added.

One of the rockets hit the mess hall, where cooks were preparing lunch, and another struck near the base commanders's office on the Nahaloz base, close to a kibbutz near the border with Gaza, sources said.

The attack would be met with a strong response "on the widest possible scale," a military source said.

"The risk of terrorist attacks is getting greater ahead of the Palestinian presidential election on Sunday and the implementation of the plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip in the coming months," the source added.