Rogue Egyptian mortar shells fall on Gaza’s Rafah

Sources added that at least three shells launched by the Egyptian army hit the areas of Yabna, Hay as-Salam and al-Jenina in Rafah leading to some material damage.

Rafah lies on the Egyptian-Palestinian border, near to where the Egyptian army has been carrying out military operations in the Sinai.

The Egyptian military has not yet addressed the incident, however the shelling is thought to be accidental in conjunction with its military activity in neighbouring areas.

However the shells fell in conjunction with intensive Israeli air raids on Friday night and Saturday morning, targeting militant positions in the enclave. Islamic Jihad, the second largest military group in Gaza, had launched a barrage of rockets toward Israel on Friday night after five Palestinian protesters were killed during demonstrations in the border area.

Egyptian shells have sporadically fallen into Gazan territory in recent years.

Photos were posted on social media showing damage to a house from the rogue shelling.

Palestinian medical sources later confirmed there had been no injuries from the incident.

The Egyptian army began a large scale military operation in February 2018 in the northeastern Sinai in a bid to oust militants allied to the Islamic State, who have launched successive deadly attacks on civilians and the military, from the territory.

The operation has however been condemned by rights groups  as a lockdown over the towns in the affected area has led to food, water and power shortages, intensive surveillance and restrictions on movement and employment leaving many civilians destitute.