Shots fired from the Gaza Strip Monday evening struck two vehicles and a restaurant wall at a commercial plaza located near the Yad Mordechai Junction in south Israel. No injuries were reported.


The IDF Spokesperson's Unit said the army has retaliated against the source of the fire.


The IDF said that the shells found at the scene were fired from a 0.5-caliber automatic machine gun. The alert level in the area was raised following the incident, while large IDF and police forces combed the area.


The army is looking into the possibility that whoever fired the shots did not plan to hit the restaurant, as it cannot be seen directly from the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave.


Adi, a shift manager at the commercial plaza that was hit, said "at first we heard blasts and thought that children playing with firecrackers, but then we saw white smoke billowing from the places that were hit. We heard another round of gunfire and ran into the restaurant."


Orit, the owner of one of the damaged vehicles, arrived at the restaurant with her husband and son. "We heard a few blasts but we continued eating. People ran in and said shots were fired, but we didn’t believe them. Later, police officers entered the restaurant and said our car had been hit. Now it won't start."


Yochabad, the owner of another vehicle that was hit while it was parked in the plaza, said the bullets penetrated the roof and hit the dashboard, "meaning that had I been in the vehicle, I would have probably been killed."


About 10 minutes after the incident, the Color Red system, which warns residents of incoming rockets from Gaza, was activated in communities located within the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. However, security forces did not identify an explosion.


Earlier Monday, Palestinians in Gaza reported that a man sustained moderate wounds from IDF fire east of Khan Younis. The sources said that prior to the incident, a terror cell situated in the area fired a missile at Israeli army vehicles. Soldiers returned fire, they claimed.





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