Israeli jets strike Hamas police station in southern Gaza

Feb 1, 2009, 20:56 GMT

Gaza - Israeli jets launched a series of airstrikes Sunday night against several targets in the Gaza Strip, including an empty Hamas police station and the border between Gaza and Egypt, witnesses said.

Residents of the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah, which borders Egypt, said that Israeli F-16 warplanes dropped at least four large bombs at the border area between. No injuries were reported.

Rafah resident Ahmed al-Sha'er said that warplanes had been flying over Rafah, bombing with the apparent aim of destroying underground tunnels used for smuggling goods and arms into Gaza. He said that tunnel owners and workers had evacuated the border area earlier Sunday evening, after receiving recorded warning messages on their mobiles that they have to leave the area.

Al-Sha'er said that he saw dozens of families leaving their homes Sunday evening and moving to safer places in the northern area of Rafah, after receiving the same Arabic warning messages from Israel.

Witnesses had earlier said that Israeli aircraft twice struck an empty police post of the Islamic Hamas movement in central Gaza Strip. No injuries were reported.

They told local radio stations that F-16s had been circling over the central area of the enclave and fired a missile into the Hamas police post, which was completely destroyed. No injuries were reported.

The Israeli airstrike on the police post came shortly after eight makeshift rockets were launched by Gaza militants toward nearby Israeli communities. No one claimed responsibility for the attacks.

However, Israel held the Hamas movement, which rules the Gaza Strip, responsible for the missile attacks.

Earlier Sunday, Rafah residents said they received recorded messages on their cellular phones.

Gaza resident Hani Salem said that his cellular phone rang, and then he heard a recorded message in Arabic saying that the Israeli army warns residents in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah to evacuate the area.

On January 18, Israel and Gaza militant groups declared unilateral ceasefires, following a 22-day Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip, where around 1,400 people were killed and 5,500 wounded.

Efforts are still exerted by Egypt to mediate longer term truce between Israel and Gaza militants, led by Hamas movement. A one-and- half-year ceasefire is expected to be declared on February 5.