Two Palestinians were wounded early Wednesday when Israeli warplanes fired rockets at the border line between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, medical sources said.

Mu'awia Hassanein, director of emergencies at the health ministry, said two young men were moderately injured in the airstrike that targeted underground tunnels in Rafah city on the Palestinian side of the border.

Sources in the city said the bombing, which took place around dawn, caused panic among the residents.

Israel has been targeting the tunnels since the first day of its 22-day offensive on the Gaza Strip in December and January. Due to nearly two years of Israeli blockade, the Gazans depended on the tunnels to smuggle goods into their impoverished enclave.

Meanwhile, Israeli gunboats fired several missiles at a group of militants in northwest Gaza Strip. The militants, who said to be linked to Fatah armed wing, said in a statement that the shelling targeted them but the fighters escaped unharmed.

Tension mounts between Israel and Palestinian militants as the Egyptian-led efforts to broker a ceasefire in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip bogged down over the fate of Israeli captive Gilad Shalit.

(Xinhua News Agency March 11, 2009)