Israel Defense forces (IDF) on Wednesday confirmed that one Palestinian operative was killed and three additional operatives were injured in its airstrike on Gaza strip.

The Israel Air Forces attacked a group of terror operatives planning to fire rockets from the Southern Gaza strip into Israel. Accurate hits were identified, according to a statement issued by IDF on its website.

The IDF will not tolerate rocket fire into Israel by terrorist organizations and will continue to respond to any attempt to disrupt the calm in the communities of southern Israel, the statement added.

In 2009, approximately 790 Qassam rockets, Mortar Shells and Grad Missiles were fired into Israel, the statement said.

An Israeli drone fired a rocket at a group of militants that were monitoring the security fence separating between Israel and Khan Younis in southern Gaza Strip late Tuesday, killing one and wounding four, the witnesses said.

The dead and the wounded were transferred to Nasser hospital in Khan Younis where officials identified the dead as Jihad al-Sumiri ,a member of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), an armed faction close to Gaza's Hamas rulers.

The Israeli army stepped up its activities along the border with Gaza over the past weeks, targeting open spaces believed to contain tunnels leading up to the electric fence.

(Xinhua News Agency January 6, 2010)