Two Palestinian bystanders were killed on Wednesday morning in an Israeli air strike on a main street in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah, medics and witnesses said.

The witnesses said that an Israeli warplane fired one missile at one of the main streets in the town that borders Egypt, adding that following a huge explosion, the medical rescue team found the bodies of two bystander men.

In the town, residents said that Israeli warplanes continued on Wednesday morning launching missiles at the borderline between the town and Egypt and at least 40 missiles hit the area.

Under the route of the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, Palestinians dug hundreds of tunnels used for smuggling goods from Egypt into Gaza to break around two years of strict Israeli blockade imposed on the strip.

Meanwhile, emergency chief in Gaza Mo'aweya Hassanein said Wednesday morning that 977 Palestinians were killed and 4500 wounded since the beginning of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip on December 27.

Meanwhile, Saraya al-Quds, Islamic Jihad armed wing said that its militants have a sea gun battles with Israeli sea commando unity early on Wednesday morning. The group didn't say if it hit Israeli soldiers, or if its members were hit.

In Gaza City, residents are still listening to huge explosions as a result of the ongoing air strikes and tanks shelling on the superb of the city, adding most of the shelling is in eastern Gaza City.

On January 4, the Israeli army carried out a ground operation into the Gaza Strip and had seized strategic posts and locations just eight days following intensive air strikes on houses, mosques and security installations.

(Xinhua News Agency January 14, 2009)