Israeli Gaza settlement bombarded with mortars

Palestinian militants fired a barrage of mortar shells at an Israeli settlement in the Gaza Strip today, wounding one man and damaging a house, the army said.

In the return fire one Palestinian was seriously wounded, rescue workers said.

The militants fired 14 mortar shells at the Netzer Hazani settlement, in what settlers said was one of the heaviest attacks in the last four years of fighting.

The attack came hours after Israeli forces wound up their second operation in a week in the nearby Khan Younis refugee camp. Israel sent troops in to try to stop militants from firing mortars and rockets at Israeli settlements and army bases.

Three Palestinians, two of them gunmen, were killed in exchanges of fire with the Israelis in that raid.

Also Thursday, Israeli forces entered the Palestinian village of Um Al Nasser in northern Gaza, cutting it off from the rest of the territory and taking over the municipal building, witnesses said.

The army said troops were searching for weapons caches.