Israeli warplanes destroy two tunnels in southern Gaza

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli military aircraft on Tuesday destroyed two tunnels near the Gaza Strip’s southern border with Egypt, according to the Israeli army.

“Israeli warplanes attacked and destroyed two tunnels near [the city of] Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip,” an Israeli army statement read.

According to the army, at least one of the tunnels was 900 meters in length and extended into Israeli territory.

Earlier Tuesday, Israeli warplanes carried out a series of airstrikes on resistance positions across the blockaded coastal territory.

The raids reportedly targeted Hamas and Islamic Jihad positions in the central and southern Gaza Strip, local witnesses said.

Tension has mounted in the Palestinian territories since the U.S. officially relocated its Israel embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem earlier this month, drawing condemnation and protest from across the Arab and Muslim world.

Since Mar. 30, more than 115 Palestinian demonstrators in the eastern Gaza Strip have been martyred -- and thousands more injured -- by Israeli army gunfire.

Protesters demand the “right of return” to their homes in historical Palestine from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.