Israel conducts air raids in Gaza

An Israeli air raid targeting east Hajar el-Dik in the central Gaza Strip early Wednesday saw several mortar shells landing in the region. Local sources reported that "mortars fell on an empty agriculture land, where the sudden attack ended without resulting in any injuries". Eye witnesses said that "mortars targeted a group of resistance fighters, firing a shell on a military force near the security fence adjacent to Hajar el-Dik without causing any casualties." Meanwhile, Israeli gunboats reportedly opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats, near the coast of Sheikh Ajleen Gaza City, throwing flare-bombs at them. The eyewitness added that "the shooting was random and did not cause any injuries, while the fishermen were forced to return to safer places in the sea". Israeli military sources in the meantime declared that a locally-made Palestinian rocket fell near Ashkelon in the western Negev region south of occupied Palestine. The Hebrew newspaper "Yedioth Ahronoth" said: "The rocket did not cause any injuries or damage, while warning sirens were ringing".