A Palestinian man stands in front of a destroyed mosque in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis on February 18, 2009. Israeli war jets struck a few targets in southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday. Severe destruction were caused, no injuries reported, witnesses said. [Xinhua]

Israel Air Force (IAF) warplanes bombed a Hamas post in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunis early on Wednesday and struck seven smuggling tunnels on the Palestinian coastal enclave's border with Egypt, local daily Ha'aretz reported.

The IAF launched attacks in response to the firing of a mortar round by Palestinian militants into Israel on Tuesday evening, said the report, adding that hours after the attacks, Palestinian militants fired a Qassam rocket at the western Negev.

The rocket exploded in a field in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council, causing no casualties or damages.

On Monday, Israel twice bombed the smuggling tunnels on the Philadelphi Route at the Sinai-Gaza border where Hamas have allegedly smuggled most of its arms.

According to an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman, Monday's strike targeted tunnels used to smuggle weapons into Gaza from Egypt, and was retaliation for the rocket attacks earlier that day.

Two rockets fired from Gaza hit southern Israel Monday morning, as talks dragged on over a long-term truce that would bring quiet to southern Israel and the Hamas-ruled coastal territory.

Gaza rockets are a near-daily occurrence in southern Israel, even after the devastating three-week-long IDF Operation Cast Lead in Gaza that was meant to bring a halt to the fire.

The IDF ended its military offensive in Gaza on January 18, and Hamas declared a ceasefire on the same day. However, sporadic violence has continued.

(Xinhua News Agency February 19, 2009)