Gaza - A Palestinian farmer was wounded Saturday by Israeli fire in Khan Younis city in the southern Gaza Strip, hospital officials said.

Mohammed Qudeh, 46, was slightly injured when Israeli forces, positioned on the border, opened machine-gun fire on farmers working in their fields, they said.

Meanwhile, Palestinian militants fired several missiles into Israeli targets near the Gaza Strip.

The Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) and the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claimed responsibility for launching two rockets into southern Israel's port city of Ashkelon.

"This is to stress the choice of the resistance," the two groups said in a joint press statement.

Militants from the Islamic Jihad and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) said Saturday they had fired three mortar shells at an Israeli army base near Nahal Oz crossing in the east of Gaza city.

On Wednesday, Israel closed the fuel crossing at Nahal Oz after a Palestinian rocket attack seriously injured an employee of the Palestinian Petroleum Agency.

The Hamas interior ministry, which governs Gaza Strip, condemned the attack and said it has started an investigation. (dpa)