Palestinian economic ministry hit by rocket

GAZA CITY (CNN) -- A rocket slammed into the Palestinian Ministry of National Economy building in Gaza City early Saturday, according to Palestinian security sources.

Part of the building, located in the Shaikh Radwan neighborhood, was burning, the sources said. No injuries were reported.

The blast occurred about 1 a.m. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that it targeted the building.

Security sources also said an Israeli rocket hit a bridge in central Gaza on the main road linking the north and south. The same bridge was hit in early July. There were no reports of casualties.

The attacks came hours after Hamas militants, armed with rocket-propelled grenades, blew open a gate Friday on the border between Gaza and Egypt, allowing hundreds of people to cross into Gaza. (Watch Hamas rally Palestinians in Gaza -- 2:37)

Militants wounded an Egyptian officer in the raid on the Rafah crossing, The Associated Press reported.

People streamed through the open gate, and the atmosphere grew tense as Israeli attack helicopters hovered over the area.

At the time, about 500 people were inside a lounge in a terminal on the Egyptian side of the border, according to witnesses and security sources.

The people were awaiting deportation back to Gaza because they lacked the proper paperwork.

The crossing has been closed since June 25, when three groups of Palestinian militants, including Hamas' military wing, captured an Israeli soldier.

Israel sent forces into Gaza and clamped down on residents' movements after the capture of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19, and the killing of two of his colleagues.

Hamas and other militants have demanded a swap for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, but Israel has refused.

In other developments Friday, the IDF said it withdrew troops from central Gaza after they completed "their activities in the area" but said forces remained in southern Gaza.

Four Israelis were treated for shock after militants fired Qassam rockets from Gaza into the border town of Sderot, the IDF said.

The Israeli army said it hit more than 30 armed militants overnight in land and sea attacks, targeting seven groups that the military asserted were plotting against Israeli troops. The fate of the militants was not immediately known.

Military action Thursday included a missile strike aimed at the Palestinian Foreign Ministry headquarters in Gaza City.

Witnesses and Palestinian security sources said 10 people were wounded in the strike on the building's fourth and fifth floors.

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