Palestinians fire mortars at "Israeli" soldiers

The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, affiliated with the Hamas movement, said in a statement that four mortar rounds were fired at "Israeli" soldiers who had entered the territory east of the al-Bureij refugee camp.

The "Israeli" army gave a different account of the event, saying the shells landed in "Israel" without causing injuries or damage.

Homemade rockets and mortars launched from the coastal strip usually target the southern occupied West Bank, where "Israeli" settlements are located.

The Palestinian side says it will not stop the rocket fire unless "Israel" lifts its paralyzing closure of the Gaza Strip -- in place since June 2007 when its arch enemy Hamas took control of the impoverished coastal strip.

The international community has repeatedly protested the siege, calling for an immediate reopening of Gaza borders and a free flow of humanitarian aid into the coastal strip, half of whose over 1.5-million strong population is dependent on UN food handouts.

On Wednesday, "Israeli" army officials said Palestinians in the West Bank city of al-Khalil would be allowed access to a street that connects the settlement of Kiryat Arba to the Ibrahimi Mosque.

The access concerns no more than 88 Palestinian families who live along the street, and is described as part of the "commitments the authorities undertook to the ("Israeli") supreme court to ease the movement" of Arab citizens.

In 2004, the street was closed on hundreds of thousands of Palestinians under pressure from around 600 fanatical Orthodox Jewish settlers in al-Khalili downtown area, and a further 6,500 in the Kiryat Arba settlement.