Early this morning, 2 Kassam rockets were fired from the Northern Gaza Strip towards Israel. One of the rockets exploded in an open area in the Sha'ar Hanegev. The second rocket landed inside Gaza. No damages or injuries were reported.

The IDF suspects that the missile fire was in retaliation for the death of Sami Abu Hossa, a 50 year old Palestinian farmer, who was killed by IDF fire near the al-Bureij refugee camp. The IDF shot into Gaza after soldiers were fired on, and subsequently hit Abu Hossa. He was transported to the hospital in critical condition, and later died of his injuries.

When the soldiers were shot at, and then returned fire, they did not note that any target had been hit. No injuries were sustained by the soldiers in that incident.

The Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine's military wing, announced that their people had fired on an IDF patrol near the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun.

Several days ago, the IDF issued a report of the security status at the Gaza border, since the conclusion of the "Cast Lead" operation. According to the report, since the last soldier left the Gaza Strip in January, a total of 242 Kassam rockets and mortar shells have been shot towards Israel – a 90% drop in the numbers before the operation. Over the course of the last year, there have been 91 attempted attacks on soldiers at the border, and the IDF has fired at 14