World Bulletin / News Desk

The Israeli army on Sunday said that its troops had destroyed six tunnels that linked the Gaza Strip to Israeli territory as part of its ground operation in the Palestinian enclave.

“One of the tunnels found today was 1.2 km (.75 mi) long, full of explosives, accessible from a house in Gaza, and had an exit in Israel,” the military said on its official Twitter account.

The army said that its troops had targeted 1302 sites in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of its ground operation in Gaza on Thursday.

“So far today, 70 rockets fired from Gaza have hit Israel; an additional 16 rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome [anti-missile system],” it added in another tweet.

Since July 7, Israel has been pounding the Gaza Strip, home to some 1.8 million Palestinians, with crippling air and naval bombardments with the ostensible aim of halting rocket fire.

On Thursday night, Israel stepped up its offensive to include ground operations, sending thousands of troops into the embattled Palestinian territory.

The operation has, however, left 502 Gazans killed and 4000 others injured so far.

Israel's military operation, dubbed "Operation Protective Edge," is the self-proclaimed Jewish state's third major offensive against Gaza in the last six years.