Israeli Airstrikes in Gaza Leave Two Wounded

Two Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were wounded by Israeli airstrikes early Friday morning, Palestinians said, only hours a visit of the U.N. chief to the Hamas-controlled territory.

According to a spokesman for Gaza emergency services, a three-and-a-half-year-old girl was seriously wounded by an airstrike at a home in the northern Gaza Strip town Beit Lahiya, which also left a man moderately wounded.

Five other attacks in the central and southern Gaza Strip targeted tunnels and fields, as well as another house in Jablais in the northern Strip.

The Israeli military confirmed the attacks, which "targeted two weapon storing facilities in the northern Gaza Strip, three terror tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip and a weapon manufacturing facility in the central Gaza Strip," a statement read. "Direct hits were confirmed as well as secondary explosions at several targets."

"These sites were targeted in response to the rocket fire on communities in southern Israel," the statement noted.

On Wednesday night, Palestinian militants fired eight rockets into southern Israel from Gaza, all of which hit open fields and caused no damage.

The Israeli attack came hours after U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon visited Gaza on Thursday, part of his visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories in a bid to convince the two sides to continue direct meetings, as the international community seeks a way to kick-start direct negotiations.