By Yehuda Peretz

SDEROT, Israel, Nov 15 (Reuters) - A rocket fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza killed a woman and wounded another person in the Israeli town of Sderot on Wednesday, Israel's Channel 2 television said.

Hospital officials said they were unable to confirm the death.

It would be the first time since July 2005 that makeshift Palestinian rockets have killed Israelis in towns and villages that border the Gaza Strip. The attack could prompt a heavy Israeli military response.

The armed wing of the ruling Hamas Islamist movement said it had fired two rockets at Sderot.

Emergency services said the rocket that caused the casualties in Sderot hit a residential area. The town is a frequent target for Palestinian rocket squads.

The emergency services said rockets had also fallen on a nearby Israeli village. It was unclear if there were any wounded in that attack.

Israel's army has been carrying out repeated raids into Gaza to try to halt the militant rocket fire.

Last week 19 Palestinian civilians were killed in an Israeli artillery barrage on the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, which borders Sderot.

Israel said the barrage was aimed at areas used by militants to fire rockets into Israel but went off course due to a technical failure. Hamas and other armed groups had vowed revenge. (Additional reporting by Ori Lewis in Jerusalem and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza)

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