Gaza militants say fire "Russian" rocket at Israel

GAZA, March 28 (Reuters) - A Palestinian militant group said it launched a Russian-made rocket at Israel during elections on Tuesday, causing no casualties.

The Islamic Jihad faction said it fired a "Grad" rocket from the Gaza Strip at the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon. Palestinian militants generally use makeshift missiles, rather than military grade rockets, for such cross-border barrages.

Islamic Jihad, sworn to destroying Israel, said it was sending a message to Israeli leaders "that their war against the Palestinians will not make them secure."

Exit polls showed the centrist Kadima Party of interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert winning most seats in Tuesday's election.

An Israeli military source confirmed that the rocket was at least partly factory-produced, and therefore originated abroad. But the source played down the significance of the strike.

"We don't know where the rocket was made. It was a hybrid. It's body was standard-issue but other components were jerry-rigged," the source said.

"We don't think they have many more rockets because if they had, they would have fired more."

Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip have long smuggled in arms from neighbouring Egypt.