A fresh round of Palestinian mortar shelling from Gaza at nightfall Wednesday

There were no casualties in the targeted village of Mefalsim. An IDF unit quickly located and struck the mortar team. Near the southern Palestinian town of Dahaniya, an Israeli soldier was slightly wounded in another counter-terror operation.
Tuesday, Defense minister Ehud Barak reiterated: Every passing day brings a major IDF operation nearer after Palestinian in Gaza pounded Netiv Ha’asara to the north with a barrage of 10 mortar shells. One smashed a house and damaged its neighbors. Only slight injuries are reported. Two Qassam missiles were fired at Kibbutz Saad, damaging a home after two landed earlier near Sderot.
Earlier this week, three Palestinian al Qaeda operatives were intercepted in Sinai on their way to suicide bombings in Israel. They were armed with hand grenades and explosives. One wore a bomb belt.
On interrogation, they told Egyptian police who captured them that they belonged to The Army of Islam, the al-Qaeda-Palestinian cell which took part in the abduction of Israeli corporal Gilad Shalit 16 months ago and BBC reporter Alan Johnston, who was later freed.
Four of them reached Sinai through a tunnel from the Gaza Strip. One escaped.