A mortar shell fired by Palestinians in northern Gaza on Saturday afternoon landed in an open area near an Israeli community located in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council. No injuries or damage were reported.
The Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, claimed responsibility for the mortar attack.
The 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.
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.
