IAF strikes hit 7 Philadelphi tunnels

2 Kassams hit w. Negev; none hurt in attacks; three Palestinians carrying weapons arrested in W. Bank.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
terror arrest 224.88 (photo credit: AP [file])
terror arrest 224.88
(photo credit: AP [file])
The IAF targeted seven smuggling tunnels along the Philadelphi Corridor Wednesday afternoon in response to two Kassam rockets fired across the Gaza border into Israel earlier in the day. In a statement released following the air strikes, the IDF said that "secondary explosions that followed the attacks on a number of the tunnels" showed that weapons and explosives were being stored there. Palestinians reported that there were no casualties in the air strikes. One of the rockets hit an agricultural area near a kibbutz in the Sha'ar Hanegev region, and rescue services were yet to find the second rocket. Neither rocket caused casualties or damage. Since the end of Operation Cast Lead over a month ago, IAF planes have destroyed almost 30 tunnels in response to rocket fire, according to the IDF. Weapons smuggling into Gaza is continuing, despite Operation Cast Lead and the subsequent Egyptian efforts to curb the phenomenon, Channel 2 reported Wednesday. According to the report, since the IDF operation in Gaza, the terror group has succeeded in smuggling an unspecified amount of anti-aircraft missiles, numerous Grad rockets and advanced, C4 explosives. In the West Bank, meanwhile, IDF troops on Wednesday foiled a stabbing attack, when they located knives on two Palestinian men at a checkpoint near Hebron's Jewish Quarter. The soldiers found the knives during a routine search, and the men were arrested and taken for questioning. There were no casualties in the incident. Also Wednesday, seven Arab workers at a gas factory in the industrial area of Atarot in Jerusalem were arrested on suspicion of attacking two private appraisers who were taking photographs at the site. Police called to the area to protect the men were also attacked, though no one was wounded in the incident. During the scuffle, one of the appraisers fired a shot in the air. Elsewhere during the day, IDF troops arrested a Palestinian who was caught carrying a pipe bomb near the West Bank city of Jenin. The man was one of three Palestinians who had been questioned after throwing rocks at a group of soldiers on patrol in the area. The bomb was discovered in the search which followed their interrogation. Army sappers detonated the bomb in a controlled explosion.