Four members of the Hamas military wing were hurt in an Israeli air strike on a car in Gaza City early on Sunday, Hamas and Palestinian medics said. Ezzadine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' armed wing, said gunmen unleashed a barrage of gunfire and missiles at Israeli forces after they entered the city.
Israeli forces then launched a missile at a car carrying the leader, injuring four fighters.
According to AFP, the group claimed it drove the troops to retreat across the border before firing nine mortars at a crossing near the incident. "The Gaza Strip is land forbidden to all Zionist soldiers, and we will take full responsibility for defending our people against this flagrant aggression," it said in a statement.
An Israeli military spokesman declined to give any information about the operation, saying only that "Israel is continuing in its long struggle against terrorism with a variety of means at its disposal".
Meanwhile, Egyptian authorities have discovered two underground tunnels used for smuggling weapons into the Gaza Strip from the Sinai peninsula, a security source told AFP on Sunday. The two tunnels were found on Saturday near a school in the border town of Rafah, the source said.
No arrests were made or weapons found although the tunnels "have already been used for smuggling", the source said.
