Israeli warplanes struck on Sunday afternoon by rockets the borderline between southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah and Egypt aiming at destroying hundreds of underground tunnels, witnesses in Rafah said, Xinhua reported.
The witnesses said that several rockets and bombs hit what is called the Philadelphi route, which is on the border between southern Gaza Strip and Israel.
After Israel imposed a tight blockade on the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by Islamic Hamas movement, the Palestinians dug hundreds of underground tunnels used for smuggling all kinds of goods.
Israel said the tunnels were also used in smuggling weapons from Egypt to Gaza to various militant groups, including Hamas. Egypt had denied that Hamas has been getting its arms through the underground tunnels.
The witnesses said that right after the airstrikes on the tunnels were carried out, several dozens of Palestinians crossed the border from Gaza into Egypt, where Egyptian security forces were trying to bring them back to Gaza.
Israel has been carrying out unprecedented intensive airstrikes on Hamas movement targets, killing 285 Palestinians, most of them militants and wounding over 900 people.
Most of Hamas security installations were destroyed as well as roads, buildings, mosques and metal workshops used to manufacture homemade rockets militants fired at Israel everyday.
Meanwhile, Palestinian medics said that a 20-year-old Palestinian young man was shot dead near the West Bank city of Ramallah during clashes between Palestinian activists and Israeli soldiers.
Palestinian witnesses said that hundreds of Palestinians were protesting the Israeli military operations against the Gaza Strip, and clashed with Israeli soldiers near the village of N'elein west of Ramallah.
Gaza and the West Bank are witnessing a general strike and mourning days to express grief for the death of hundreds of Palestinians on Saturday and Sunday in the Gaza Strip.