Israel drops bombs on Gaza Strip
Smoke rises after Israeli warplanes bombed tunnels in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday. The bombs fell after militants fired several mortars at the Jewish state from the coastal territory, witnesses said. Photo/REUTERS
GAZA, Saturday
Israeli warplanes bombed tunnels beneath the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt after militants fired several mortars at the Jewish state from the coastal territory, witnesses said.
The Israeli military confirmed it had launched several air strikes near the Gaza town of Rafah, along the Egyptian border, but had no further comment.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Resumed attacks
Israel had resumed attacks on Friday on tunnels it says are used to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip, after a nearly two-month hiatus in such strikes. There were no casualties in Friday’s air strikes, launched after a rocket struck Israel.
Israel said three mortars were fired at Israel from the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday, causing no casualties. The Palestinian Resistance Committees, a militant group in Gaza, claimed it had fired the mortars on Saturday.
Militant rocket fire has dropped significantly since Egypt began efforts to consolidate the January 18 truce that ended Israel’s 22-day offensive against Gaza’s Islamic militants.
Israel launched its war on the territory controlled by the Islamist Hamas movement in late December, with the aim of halting cross-border rocket and mortar attacks.
