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Israeli aircraft hit 2 militant targets in Gaza

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-09 16:18

JERUSALEM -- Israeli aircraft attacked two Palestinian militant targets in the Gaza Strip early Monday in response to rocket fire from the territory a day earlier, the military said. No injuries were reported.

A Palestinian girl carries her sister in front of a destroyed house in Jabalya, in the northern Gaza Strip, February 4, 2009. [Agencies]

Full Coverage:  Gaza Bloodshed Related readings:  Israeli leaders discuss Egyptian draft of ceasefire  Israeli troops kill militant leader in West Bank  Hamas bombing, Israeli airstrike shake Gaza truce  Jordan urges early US involvement in Palestinian-Israeli conflict

The Israeli military did not identify the targets. But Palestinian officials said aircraft hit a Hamas security compound in southern Gaza that had already been struck three times during Israel's recently ended Gaza offensive and a rocket-launching pad in a field in northern Gaza.

Separately, an Israeli gunboat fired a shell in the direction of a Palestinian fishing boat off the northern Gaza coast, Palestinian officials said. The military said the boat had strayed beyond limits Israel has set for fishermen, and that the gunfire was meant as a deterrent.

Palestinian officials said rescue crews were on their way to the fishing boat to determine if there were any injuries.

Israel unilaterally ended on Jan. 18 a devastating three-week offensive in Gaza meant to halt years of rocket fire on southern Israeli communities. Hamas announced its own cease-fire the same day.

While Egypt has been trying to broker a long-term cease-fire, sporadic violence has persisted. In separate attacks Sunday, Palestinian rockets exploded in an Israeli communal farm and the southern city of Ashkelon. No injuries were reported, but cars and buildings were damaged, authorities said.