Israeli tanks fired several shells at Palestinians in the northwest of Gaza Strip Sunday, wounding five people, Palestinian medical sources said.

The tanks, positioned near the fence that separates Gaza and Israel, fired three shells at a group of young people who go to the abandoned areas to dig for stones in Beit Lahiya town, security sources said.

The injured were taken to Kamal Adwan hospital in Jabaliya refugee camp where hospital officials said they suffered moderate wounds.

Israel imposed a blockade on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip in June 2007, preventing construction materials from entering Gaza in addition to a wide variety of vital goods.

Some Palestinians go to former settlement that Israel has evacuated in 2005 to collect stones for building their new houses.

(Xinhua News Agency February 22, 2010)