Last update - 00:00 07/12/2006
IDF opens fire on Palestinians at Gaza border, despite cease-fire
By The Associated Press
Israel Defense Forces soldiers fired at a group of Palestinian men who approached the security fence on the Gaza-Israel border on Thursday, wounding one, the military said, in the latest blow to a fragile truce between the two sides.
Palestinian officials said two Palestinian brothers were wounded while when walking in a field.
The army said soldiers were dispatched to the area after receiving a report that a group of Palestinian men was damaging the fence. Soldiers ordered the men to leave and fired warning shots in the air, but the men didn't budge, so troops opened fire, hitting one man, it said.
"The force fired at one Palestinian and hit him in the leg," the spokeswoman said. The army said it was unaware of a second man being hit.
The truce has largely held since it went into effect nearly two weeks ago, but it has been been marred by sporadic Palestinian rocket fire and shootings along the border.
Egyptian security uncovers a tunnel at Egypt-Gaza border
An Egyptian security official on Thursday said border guards uncovered a tunnel in the border city of Rafah that allegedly was used to smuggle weapons and Palestinians from Gaza into the Sinai Peninsula.
The tunnel, which was a meter wide, was found on Wednesday under the kitchen floor in a house located less than 10 meters from the border crossing, the official said on condition of anonymity, because he wasn't allowed to speak to the press.
The owner of the house was arrested, and family members were asked to leave while security forces sealed off the area to search for other tunnels, the official added.
The tunnel was dug in the 1990s, and Egypt was coordinating with Palestinian authorities in Gaza to close its other end, the official said.
Israel has long accused Egypt of not doing enough to stop the smuggling of weapons to Palestinian militants. Egypt has rejected the allegations but recently said it would make a greater effort to crack down on the trafficking.