(Adds new strikes in Gaza)

By Yehuda Peretz

SDEROT, Israel, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Rockets fired from Gaza killed a 58-year-old woman and wounded several other residents of an Israeli border town on Wednesday, prompting Israel to vow it would "find and kill" the Palestinian militants responsible.

It was the first time since July 2005 that rockets had killed an Israeli in towns and villages along the Gaza frontier.

One rocket landed in a street close to the home of Defence Minister Amir Peretz in the working-class town of Sderot, officials said. Peretz was not at home at the time. Another rocket landed near the town's police station, paramedics said.

The armed wing of the ruling Hamas Islamist movement said it fired at least two salvoes at Sderot and claimed responsibility for the death, which it said was in response to Israeli shelling last week that killed 19 Palestinian civilians. The Islamic Jihad militant group said it had launched two rockets.

"The Zionist enemy has admitted a Zionist was killed as a result of the Qassam Brigades bombardment of Sderot," the Hamas armed wing said in a statement. A Hamas movement spokesman defended the rocket attack.

Medical officials said a security guard who worked at Peretz's house was seriously wounded while on patrol in the area. The Israeli army said a youth was seriously wounded in the second strike. Several other people were slightly hurt.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, on a U.S. tour, said after telephone consultations with Peretz that Israel would press its anti-militant campaign in Gaza.

"We will decide on additional steps as required in order to continue fighting the unceasing, murderous terror in the Gaza Strip," Olmert told American Jewish fund-raisers in Los Angeles.

"We are going to continue to reach out everywhere, every place, every corner, until we find them and, yes, kill them."

Within hours, Israel's air force bombed the homes of two Hamas commanders, an Islamic Jihad leader and a militant from another group in Gaza after warning occupants to leave, locals and military officials said. A passerby was lightly wounded.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said the buildings had been used either to store weapons or as meeting places for militants.

HAMAS-FATAH TALKS

The attack on Sderot coincided with a fourth day of talks in Gaza between Hamas and the rival Fatah faction on forming a unity government that Palestinians hope will satisfy Western power-brokers and lead to the lifting of crippling sanctions.

Officials are negotiating cabinet positions after largely agreeing that a U.S.-trained academic from Gaza, Mohammad Shbair, will replace Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas as prime minister.

Hamas said on Tuesday the new administration would not recognise Israel, a stance that could keep Western aid on hold. The West cut direct aid when Hamas, which seeks to destroy Israel, took office in March after trouncing Fatah in elections.

But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate who heads Fatah, urged Israel to help end the bloodshed.

"I appeal to the Israelis: Do not waste this chance for peace. Enough with the shedding of the blood of our sons and yours," Abbas said in a speech at his West Bank headquarters.

Sderot is a frequent target of Palestinian rocket squads because it lies so close to Gaza -- 5 km (2 miles) away. Rockets also hit a nearby village but wounded no one.

Wednesday's salvoes were the most intensive in months. The rockets used, while homemade, had been fitted with improved warheads, Hamas sources and Israeli military officials said.

Last week 19 Palestinian civilians were killed in an Israeli artillery barrage on the Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun.

Israel said the barrage was aimed at areas militants use to fire rockets but went off course because of a technical failure. (Additional reporting by Jeffrey Heller in Los Angeles, Wafa Amr in Ramallah, Ori Lewis in Jerusalem, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza)

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