IAF airstrikes have leveled a seven-floor office building and severely damaged a two-story commercial building with dozens of shops in the southern town of Rafah.
A seperate Israeli air strike killed two people on a motorcycle in Gaza City early on Sunday, medical officials said.
The Israeli military had no initial comment on the strike and it was unclear if those killed had any particular militant affiliation.
The attack came after Shabbos saw over 100 rockets slam into Israel from Gaza, with at least five more hitting Israel from the north. Mortar fire later Friday night killed four-year-old Daniel Tregerman, he is the first Israeli child causality since Operation Protective Edge began over a month ago.
An office of the Hamas-run Interior Ministry was located in the seven-story Zourab building. Local residents said it housed 44 families. Police say seven people were wounded by the bombing of the commercial center in Rafah. There were no reports of casualties from the other strike.
The strikes in the southern town of Rafah came just hours after Israel bombed an apartment tower in Gaza City, collapsing the 12-story building with 44 apartments. Around 30 people were wounded in the strikes, but no one was killed, Palestinian officials said.
The targeting of large buildings appears to be part of a new military tactic by Israel. Over the weekend, the army began warning Gaza residents in automated phone calls that it would target buildings harboring “terrorist infrastructure” and that they should stay away.
A senior military official confirmed that Israel has a policy of striking at buildings containing Hamas operational centers or those from which military activities are launched. The official said each strike required prior approval from military lawyers and is carried out only after the local population is warned.
However, he said, there was now a widening of locations that the military can target. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to discuss the matter with reporters.
In the 12-story apartment tower, the target was a fourth-floor apartment where Hamas ran an operations center, according to Israeli media. In the past, Israel has carried out pinpoint strikes, targeting apartments in high-rises with missiles, while leaving the buildings standing. However, this time a decision was made to bring down the entire tower, according to Channel 10, an Israeli TV station.
The military declined immediate comment when asked why it collapsed the entire building instead of striking a specific apartment.
CLICK HERE AND HERE FOR VIDEO OF THE AIRSTRIKE.
{Matzav.com Israel}
