Last update - 15:25 29/12/2006 7 Qassam rockets land in open areas in west Negev; no injuries By Mijal Grinberg, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service

Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip on Friday fired Seven Qassam rocket at the western Negev, all of which landed in open fields. There were no injuries or damages reported in the incidents.

Three rockets were fired at Israel on Thursday, two of which landed in an open field south of Ashkelon. A third rocket landed in an open area near the western Negev town of Sderot. There were no injuries or damages in any of the attacks.

President Moshe Katsav met with victims of Qassam attacks and Gush Katif evacuees on a visit to Ashkelon on Thursday. He also toured the strategic facilities in the city which have come under rocket attacks in recent days.

The president also met with the family of Sderot resident Adir Bassad, 14, who was critically wounded in a rocket attack on the city on Tuesday. The teen's mother said her son's condition had improved and that he had begun speaking again Thursday.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gave the Israel Defense Forces permission on Wednesday to attack rocket-launching cells in the Gaza Strip as long as they are identified shortly before the launching, but the Prime Minister's Office said the Israeli commitment to the cease-fire in Gaza still stands.

His decision to authorize only pinpoint operations while generally upholding a policy of restraint raised ire among senior IDF officers Thursday who argued that that the only effective way to curb rocket attacks was to send forces into the northern Gaza Strip.