The Israel Air Force carried out an air strike on a house in the militant stronghold of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip early on Wednesday causing no casualties, the Israel Defense Forces and Palestinian witnesses said.

"There was an aerial attack on a house which was used as a facility to store weapons," an IDF spokeswoman said.

She added that residents had been warned in advance to leave the building.

	Advertisement

Witnesses said the house, which was destroyed, belonged to a Palestinian militant. It was unclear which faction the militant belonged to. They added that the house had been vacated before the attack.

Israel has carried out frequent air strikes on the territory during an offensive launched in late June after gunmen from Gaza abducted a soldier in a cross-border raid.

More than 210 Palestinians have been killed during the offensive, which the IDF says is also aimed at stopping militants from firing makeshift rockets into Israel.

Poll: Most Palestinians think Hamas shouldn't recognize Israel
According to a survey conducted by the Khalil Shikaki research institute in Ramallah at the end of last week, 67 percent of Palestinians believe Hamas should not recognize the state of Israel, while only 30 percent believe it should.

Of the 1,270 Palestinian adults that participated in the survey, 38 said they would vote for Hamas were elections held today, compared to the 39 percent who said they would vote for Hamas in a survey conducted by the institute three months ago.

Forty-one percent said they would vote for Fatah, compared to 39 percent three months ago.

Fifty-four percent of those polled said they were not pleased with the performance pf the Hamas government, while only 42 percent said they were satisfied.

Fifty-five percent said they were satisfied with Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' performance.