[Haaretz Defense] Israel Air Force warplanes on Wednesday bombed three smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip near its border with Egypt, wounding four people. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the attack, which came hours after militants in the Gaza Strip launched three mortar shells at the western Negev. Israeli aircraft often attack the tunnels because of concerns that Gaza's militant Hamas rulers use them to smuggle weapons and explosives into Gaza. Palestinians also used the tunnels to bring in food, clothes, fuel and even livestock. Israel launched an offensive against Hamas in Gaza in late December after eight years of Palestinian rocket fire into Israel. That operation caused widespread damage in Gaza, which remains subject to a blockade by Israel and Egypt aimed at weakening Hamas.
The three shells that hit the Negev marked a recent upsurge in border violence after a two-week lull. The shells exploded in the Sha'ar Hanegev region, causing neither casualties nor damage. The attack came one day after the New York Times published an interview with Hamas political leader Khaled Meshal, whose Islamist group controls Gaza, in which he said gunmen in the coastal strip had unilaterally ceased cross border attacks.
Over the weekend, the Israel Air Force bombed five tunnel systems used for smuggling arms and other goods from Egypt into the Gaza Strip. The air strikes were launched in response to renewed rocket and mortar fire from the Gaza Strip into Israel. Sources in the Israel Defense Forces say the targets were destroyed.
At least two Palestinians died in the raids, according to emergency workers in the Gaza Strip. The dead are believed to be the first fatalities in fighting between Israel and the Palestinians since an air strike against tunnels in March.