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Photo: AFP
IDF strikes Gaza smuggling tunnel
Military says strike comes in response to Qassam rockets fired at Israel Saturday
Israel Air Force jets struck a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip used for the smuggling of terror operatives and for carrying out terror attacks against civilians and Israel Defense Forces soldiers.
The IDF Spokesperson's Unite said precise hits were identified and that all jets returned safely to their bases. The IDF stressed that the strike cam in response to Qassam rocket fire at Israel on Saturday, and said it holds Hamas responsible for what goes on in the Strip.
Saturday evening, two Qassam rockets were fired at Israel from the northern Gaza Strip. One rocket exploded in Hof Ashkelon Regional Council, and the other landed in the territory of the Strip. There were no reports of damage or injury.
Early Friday morning, a Qassam rocket hit a road in the Shaar Hanegev industrial zone. The force of the blast left a nearby building lightly damaged as its windows were shattered. A truck parked nearby was also damaged from shrapnel. No one was injured in the blast.
Friday night, Israeli jets bombed a weapons-production site in the northern Gaza Strip, and a smuggling tunnel in the south. The IDF Spokesperson's Unit explained the bombing of the tunnel was intended to prevent terrorists from infiltrating Israel.
Palestinian sources said the IAF had launched six raids on Gaza but that no one was hurt. They said five air strikes were carried out in the southern part of Gaza near Rafah and the border with Egypt, and the sixth east of Gaza City.
On Saturday, Palestinians reported that six people were killed and 12 others injured on in a smuggling tunnel when contraband gas canisters exploded. The accident occurred as the canisters were being smuggled through the tunnel under the Egyptian border with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, the sources said.
More than 130 Palestinians have died in cave-ins or been killed by Israeli military operations aimed at the tunnels since the Hamas takeover, medics say.
