Mortar hits Negev region; no injuries
Shell fired from Gaza lands near Israeli community just hours after US calls on sides to prevent escalation of violence
A mortar fired by Palestinians in north Gaza at around noon Saturday landed in an open area near an Israeli community located in the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council.
No injuries or damage were reported.
Residents reported hearing the shell explode, but the "Color Red" alert system did not sound. The exact location of the mortar's landing site has yet to be traced by security forces.
The Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, claimed responsibility for the mortar attack.
The mortar attack came just a few hours after the US State Department called on Israel and the Palestinians to avoid an escalation of tensions in Gaza and the western Negev.
"The Israelis have a right to self-defense. At the same, as we've said many times, we don't ultimately think there is a military solution to this," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters.
"Our message remains to the Israelis and Palestinians that we need to get the proximity talks going, focus on the substance, move to direct negotiations and ultimately arrive at a settlement that ends the conflict once and for all."
Israel has launched a string of air strikes in the Gaza Strip and threatened wide-scale military action after rocket attacks from the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave.
AFP contributed to the report
