Israeli aircraft bombed smuggling tunnels connecting Gaza Strip with Egypt on Tuesday. According to Reuters, residents of the Gaza border crossing town of Rafah and officials of Hamas said Israeli airforce planes were attacking the tunnels.
One Israeli plane also fired a missile into a training position of the armed wing of Hamas in Abassan village east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Hamas and residents said.
Earlier, residents of the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah said that they got telephone messages from the Israeli army warning them to leave their homes ahead of an impending airstrike. The recorded messages, in Arabic, said "people who work in tunnels, live near them or are giving logistical help to terrorists should evacuate the area immediately," residents said, according to the AP.
Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have instructed the army to launch reprisal attacks against Hamas targets following Tuesday morning's Grad rocket attack in the Israeli port city of Ashkelon. Israel warned on Tuesday that Hamas was "playing with fire" shortly after the rocket was fired.
