The Palestinian Health Ministry said two Palestinians were killed and five injured in an attack that occurred early Thursday morning on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. Israel Defense Forces have denied carrying out an attack overnight.

Health Ministry spokesman Dr. Ashraf al-Qudra confirmed the details and noted that the attack targeted a commercial tunnel between the Strip and the town of Rafah on the Egyptian side of the border. The two bodies and the injured were taken to a hospital in Gazan Rafah.

Eyewitnesses saw an Israeli aircraft fired a missile at the opening of a tunnel on the Egyptian side. This kind of attack is likely to hurt anyone inside the tunnel.

According to al-Qudra, the two men killed in the attack were 24-year-old Hossam Asofi of Rafah and Mohammad al Aqra, 38, from Gaza. The five wounded were not identified.

However, Al Jazeera reported an official Israeli denial of being behind the attack, and, instead, it accused Egypt of responsibility.

Egypt remained silent about its role, direct or otherwise behind the attack, and whether Israel has violated Egypt’s territorial sovereignty by striking a tunnel on the Egyptian side of the Rafah Gaza border. </s> GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Palestinian officials say an Israeli airstrike has killed two Gaza residents in a smuggling tunnel along the border with Egypt.

Health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Kidra says Thursday's pre-dawn airstrike wounded five others.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment. But on Wednesday the military said its missile defense system intercepted several rockets fired from militants in Egypt toward the southern Israeli city of Eilat — a relatively rare occurrence.

The bombing appears to be the first to target smuggling tunnels since the 2014 war between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers.

Earlier this week, Israel carried out several strikes on Hamas targets after a rocket landed in Israel. Israel holds Hamas responsible for any fire originating from Gaza. </s> Two Palestinians were killed and five were wounded Thursday in a pre-dawn Israeli air strike on the border between the southern Gaza Strip and Egypt, medical sources and witnesses said. The casualties occurred when Israeli war jets struck an underground smuggling tunnel with air-to-ground missiles, the Health Ministry in Gaza said in an emailed press statement.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Al Bawaba. </s> Two Palestinian civilians were killed and five others wounded in an air strike that hit a tunnel in Gaza near the Egyptian border.

It was unclear who launched the attack on Thursday. A Palestinian official blamed Israel; however, a military spokeswoman denied any knowledge of the strike.

Ashraf al-Qedra, Gaza's health ministry spokesperson, said in a statement the two men were "martyred and five other people were wounded as a result of being targeted by an Israeli warplane along the Palestinian-Egyptian borders".

According to al-Qedra, the two men killed were identified as Hossam al-Sufi, 24, and Mohammed al-Aqra, 38.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said she was unaware of the attack, which happened pre-dawn between the Gaza Strip and Rafah on the Egyptian side of the border.

READ MORE: Fatah and Hamas to form unity government

The incident took place after at least three rockets were fired from the Sinai peninsula into Israel's southernmost resort city of Eilat late on Wednesday.

The Israeli army said in a statement its missile defence system, known as the "Iron Dome", intercepted the rockets, preventing any casualties or damage.

Israeli media reported a group affiliated with the Islamic State of the Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack on Eilat.

Gaza has been under a decade-long siege imposed by Israel following Hamas' election victory and subsequent takeover of the enclave in 2007.

Since 2013, Egypt has largely shut off its border with Gaza, blocking nearly 2,000 tunnels connecting Gaza with Rafah, stemming the flow of much-needed goods and resources.

Egypt recently eased some border restrictions with Gaza. </s> Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Israel Defense Forces on Sunday said the air force destroyed a mile-long tunnel built by Hamas under Gaza, Israel and Egypt.

Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told CNN the strike was carried out Saturday with "necessary coordination" with Egypt.

Sources told the Palestinian News Network no one was injured in the strike.

"This is a blatant violation of Israeli sovereignty, endangering the citizens of Israel and sabotaging the humanitarian efforts that Israel is making for the citizens of Gaza," an IDF statement read.

Israel said the tunnel was being used to smuggle weapons and militants from Egypt into the Gaza Strip in order to attack the Kerem Shalom crossing. The IDF also closed the crossing.

"The terrorist organization Hamas is responsible for everything happening in and out of the Gaza Strip," the IDF said.

Cornricus said that if the tunnel was only to smuggle harmless goods, there was no need for it to go under Kerem Shalom.

This is the third tunnel into Gaza Israel has destroyed in two months. </s> Eight Palestinians killed after Israel blows up tunnel stretching from Gaza Strip

Israel said Sunday it used a combination of air strikes and other means to destroy a tunnel stretching from the Gaza Strip into the country and continuing into Egypt.

Military spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus noted that the tunnel's route stretched underneath the Kerem Shalom crossing, where 15 million tons of food, clothing, construction material and other essential goods had been transferred into Gaza since the 2014 war. Israel and Egypt have maintained a crippling blockade on Gaza since Hamas seized power in 2007.

He said Israeli jets struck part of the tunnel and a new set of sophisticated "tools" destroyed the rest. The crossing has been closed till further notice.

The strikes occurred within the Gaza Strip, while further means were carried out in Israeli territory.

The tunnel began east of the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, crossed into Israel some 180 meters, then continued into Egypt for an unspecified length, with no exit point detected, he said.

Conricus said Israel had coordinated with Egypt on the operation.

The army said they didn't know whether they killed or injured anyone during the incident.

The latest tunnel was the third destroyed since late October by Israel, but it comes at a particularly sensitive time.

Tensions between Palestinians and Israel have been high since U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital on December 6. </s> Jerusalem (CNN) The Israeli military said Sunday it destroyed a mile-long tunnel that stretched from Gaza under Israel and into Egypt.

"Necessary coordination" was made with Egyptian authorities, Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said.

The Israeli military at first described the target as a "terror infrastructure" site, in a statement shortly after the strike, clarifying that it was a tunnel in a conference call with reporters Sunday.

Israel blamed Hamas for building the tunnel and says it holds the Islamist group responsible for all actions emanating from Gaza.

The tunnel, which began approximately 900 meters into the coastal enclave along the Gaza-Egypt border, crossed into Israel under the Kerem Shalom border crossing before continuing into Egypt.

Read More </s> Two Palestinians were killed and five were wounded Thursday in a pre-dawn Israeli air strike on the border between the southern Gaza Strip and Egypt, medical sources and witnesses said.

 

 The casualties occurred when Israeli war jets struck an underground tunnel with air-to-ground missiles, the Health Ministry in Gaza said in an emailed press statement.

 

 Israeli media quoted Israeli army officials as saying the air strike was retaliation for rocket attacks on Eilat that were launched from Sinai.

 

 Overnight, Hamas fighters in the Egyptian Peninsula of Sinai fired about seven makeshift rockets into southern Israel, according to an Israeli army spokesman, adding that Israel's Iron Dome defence system intercepted three rockets.

 

 The spokesman said the other four rockets landed at empty areas in the suburbs of the southern Israeli city of Eilat, close to the border between Israel and Egypt, adding that no injuries were reported.

 

 Two days ago, Israeli warplanes carried out about 17 successive airstrikes on Gaza military posts and facilities belonging to the Hamas movement's armed wing and other armed groups.

 

 Egypt brokered a ceasefire agreement between Gaza Hamas-led groups and Israel in 2014 to end 50 days of a large-scale Israeli air and ground military offensive.

 

 Some 2,200 Palestinians and 70 Israelis were killed in that conflict. </s> Israel's razing of a smuggling tunnel across the border from Gaza killed seven Palestinian gunmen, according to militant groups, coming as rivals Hamas and the Palestinian Authority work toward a new bid at a unity government. Julian Satterthwaite reports.
An airstrike hits a tunnel in the Gaza Strip near the Egyptian border, killing at least two people and injuring five more. It is unclear who launched the airstrike.