Four Palestinians dead after Egypt says tunnels destroyed

The Israeli air force bombed a suspected smuggling tunnel on the Gaza-Egypt border on Wednesday in response to rocket attacks, the military said. No casualties were reported."The site was targeted in response to the recent rocket fire from the Gaza Strip," a military statement said, referring to Grad rockets and mortar rounds fired from Gaza on Monday night, one of which exploded near a wedding in southern Israel, although nobody was injured.Witnesses in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah said there were no casualties in the Israel air raid.

Two Palestinians were killed and 11 others injured on Saturday in a Gaza smuggling tunnel when contraband gas canisters exploded, medics in the coastal enclave said.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.The impoverished territory of 1.5 million people has largely relied on the vast network of tunnels since Israel and Egypt sealed Gaza off to all but what it says is vital aid after the Islamist Hamas seized power in June 2007.

Israeli warplanes launched three strikes against the southern Gaza Strip, killing one, wounding three and leaving one more missing, Palestinian medical and security sources said.Two raids Saturday targeted smuggling tunnels running under the border with Egypt at Rafah, wounding two people.One of the tunnels collapsed, killing one person. Another person was missing and a third was seriously injured, witnesses said.The other raid targeted a former base used by the armed wing of the Islamist movement Hamas that seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007.

Israeli warplanes launched Saturday evening three strikes against the southern Gaza Strip, wounding two people, Palestinian medical and security sources said.Two raids targeted smuggling tunnels running under the border with Egypt at Rafah, wounding two people.One of the tunnels collapsed and three Palestinians who working in it have not yet made it back to the surface, witnesses said.The other raid targeted a former base used by the armed wing of the Islamist movement Hamas that seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007.

Four Palestinians were injured and four others went missing Saturday when a smuggling tunnel on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt collapsed, medics said.Rescuers were searching for the missing men who were reportedly in the tunnel at the time of the collapse, said Muawiya Hassanein, who heads the Gaza Strip's emergency services.Witnesses the tunnel near the border city of Rafah collapsed for "technical" reasons and was not targeted by Israeli or Egyptian forces.

Israeli planes fired missiles at two smuggling tunnels near the Gaza Strip border with Egypt early Monday, causing damage but no casualties, officials from the Hamas-run security forces said.The Israeli army had no immediate comment. Israel has frequently targeted the tunnels in retaliation for rocket fire from the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave.The impoverished territory of 1.5 million people has largely relied on the vast network of tunnels on the border since Israel and Egypt sealed Gaza off to all but vital aid in 2006 after militants captured an Israeli soldier.

Egyptian authorities have discovered a tunnel being used to smuggle cars into the Gaza Strip while a smuggling operation was underway, the official MENA news agency reported on Tuesday.Two contraband cars were in the tunnel, located in the Al-Dehniya region south of the Rafah border crossing, the agency.Policemen raided the area as smugglers attempted to move the cars and traded fire with them but the smugglers managed to flee aboard stolen vehicles, a security official told AFP.