A group of Israeli soldiers, backed by armored vehicles and two armored bulldozers stormed early on Monday an area east of Jabalia town in northern Gaza Strip, local sources and witnesses said.

The witnesses said hat several Israeli armored vehicles backed by two bulldozers rolled 200 meters into Abu Saffeya area east of Jabalia amid intensive gunfire at Palestinian houses.

The sources said that the bulldozers leveled the ground, while tanks opened intensive gunfire at the residents' houses, adding that no injuries were reported, but severe damages were caused to some buildings in the area.

The Israeli incursion into eastern Jabalia was carried out to prevent launching homemade rockets from the area at southern Israeli communities in the vicinity of the Gaza Strip.

Since the end of the 22-day Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip that ended in January 18, the Israeli army has been carrying out limited and short incursions into areas closed to the borders between Gaza Strip and Israel.

The Israeli army says that these military operations aim at preventing Gaza militants from firing homemade rockets from those areas at southern Israel. An undeclared fragile truce is still valid between Hamas and Israel in Gaza.

(Xinhua News Agency December 1, 2009)