Israeli air strike on Gaza: Palestinians

Monday, August 10, 2009

GAZA CITY (AFP) – Israeli warplanes struck the Gaza Strip early on Monday near the southern city of Rafah, Palestinian security officials said, hours after at least three mortar rounds were fired into Israel.

In the first air strike against the Gaza Strip since June 14, Israeli warplanes struck an area where tunnels are known to run under the border to Egypt to evade the Israeli blockade of the Palestinian territory.

An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed the attack, saying a contraband tunnel had been targeted.

The mortar attacks Sunday targeted the Karni and Erez border crossings between the Gaza Strip and Israel, and caused no casualties or damage.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as warned on several occasions during recent weeks that the Israeli army would respond to each rocket or shell fired into Israel.

According to the army more than 200 rockets and shells have been fired from Gaza since Israel's 22-day offensive against the Hamas rulers of the territory in December and January.

Operation "Cast Lead", which led to more than 1,400 Palestinian deaths including hundreds of civilians and which devastated swathes of the coastal strip, was officially aimed at ending the firing of rockets from Gaza.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090810/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictgaza/print