"Palestinians" fleeing Israeli air strikes near the Gaza border town of Rafah have been met with gunfire from Egyptian police forces. "Dozens of civilians tried to break through the Barahma crossing after Israel launched air strikes along the Gaza-Egypt border. They were repelled by Egyptian police firing in the air," AFP cited an Egyptian security official as saying on Sunday.
According to Israeli media, some 240 targets, including the office of the governor of Gaza have been attacked since Israel launched a devastating attack on the coastal strip on Saturday.
Sunday's attacks raised the number of people killed in Israel's Operation Cast Lead to at least 300 people. Around 1000 more have also been injured.
The official who was speaking on condition of anonymity said that some Palestinians had managed to climb over the border wall into Egypt, prompting officials to close the Rafah crossing.
Egypt has reportedly recorded at least four breaches along the 14 kilometer border, the official added. The search for the Palestinians who had managed to enter Egyptian territory still continues.
Tel-Aviv had earlier sent its warplanes to the border of Gaza Strip and Egypt to bomb a series of tunnels, dispersing Egyptians waiting at the border to help wounded Palestinians.
The tunnels are considered as the lifeline of the territory, to bring in food, fuel and medical supplies for the 1.5 million residents of Gaza who are suffering due to the Israeli-imposed siege.
Israel claims that the tunnels are being used to smuggle weapons and explosives to the impoverished territory.
"The air force attacked over 40 tunnels on the Gaza side of the border," said an Israeli army spokeswoman.
The international Red Cross on Sunday expressed concern that the rising numbers of casualty in Gaza were putting the region's hospitals under extreme pressure.
"The International Committee of the Red Cross is extremely concerned by the mounting number of casualties inside the Gaza Strip, following a series of air strikes by the Israel Defense Forces," it said in a statement.
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Topic: Israel bombs, Egypt denies entry (Read 459 times)