World Bulletin/News Desk

Israeli police on Tuesday urged civilians to avoid areas near the Gaza Strip, which has been reeling under unabated Israeli attacks since July 7.

The warning came shortly after five soldiers were killed in clashes near the border area of Nahal Oz when Palestinians used a tunnel to infiltrate Israel.

Meanwhile, the Ezzeddin al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian resistance group Hamas, on Tuesday claimed to have attacked an Israeli personnel carrier in southern Israel.

In a statement, the Brigades said its fighters attacked the Israeli carrier in Kissufim region adjacent to eastern Khan Younis in southern Gaza Strip.

On Monday, the Qassam Brigades claimed responsibility for killing 10 Israeli soldiers in an attack in eastern Gaza Strip.

Since July 7, Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip – from air, land and sea – with devastating bombardments with the ostensible aim of halting rocket fire from the strip.

At least 1119 Palestinians have been killed and more than 6550 others injured in the relentless Israeli attacks on Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Gaza-based resistance factions, meanwhile, have continued to fire rocket at Israeli cities in response to the ongoing Israeli bombardments.

According to official Israeli figures, 53 troops and three civilians have been killed since the hostilities began.

Israel's military operation, dubbed operation "Protective Edge," is the self-proclaimed Jewish state's third major offensive against the densely-populate Gaza Strip – which is home to some 1.8 million Palestinians – within the last six years.

In 2008/9, over 1500 Palestinians were killed in Israel's three-week-long operation "Cast Lead."