Israel Air Force aircraft on Wednesday bombed a house in central Gaza used by Hamas militants to store weapons, the Israel Defense Forces said. Palestinian security sources said the house was owned by a Hamas militant and was largely destroyed. There were no immediate reports of casualties in the air strike. A Palestinian teenager and a woman were killed, and four other people were wounded, in an Israel Air Force strike in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya. The two victims of the strike were named as Araf Abu Qaida, 16, and Marvat Abu Sharkh, 24, were killed by shrapnel from a missile that eye-witnesses said landed close to a moving vehicle. The four people inside the car were wounded in the strike. The Israel Defense Forces said that troops were targeting a group of armed men who planned to fire a Qassam rocket at Israel.
IDF forces were operating in the Dahaniyeh area in the southern Strip on Tuesday. The operation was described as part of the wider effort to counter terrorist activity stemming from the area.
The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip remained closed on Tuesday despite Israel's pledge to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice it would open to traffic. European Union observers told Haaretz they received a message from Israel at 7:30 A.M. that the crossing was to remain shut. Defense Minister Amir Peretz on Monday promised Rice the crossing would open for a 48-hour period to allow civilians and foreigners to cross from the Gaza Strip to Egypt. Palestinian sources said that Palestinian students, businessmen and humanitarian workers would also be allowed to leave the Strip. Israel placed a general closure on Palestinian Authority territories Monday, following a dramatic increase in alerts of planned terrorists attacks.