Israeli fire 'kills Gaza militant' The security officials and eyewitnesses said that an Israeli tank and armoured bulldozer came about 100 metres (yards) inside the strip. Witnesses said that a mine exploded under the tank. An Israeli military spokeswoman would not comment on the fighting other than to tell AFP that "a pinpoint and defensive activity against the terror tunnel is currently taking place." She was referring to a tunnel from the Gaza Strip into Israel uncovered by Israeli security forces last month and allegedly intended as a springboard for attacks. Hamas's Izzadine al-Qassam military wing said at the time that it dug the tunnel as part of a plan to kidnap Israeli soldiers and hold them in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. "We are working on the ground and under the ground to release the prisoners (held by Israel)," the group's spokesman Abu Obeida said on October 20. On Monday Israeli warplanes raided the northern Gaza Strip after militants fired across the border. It was the first Israeli air strike on Gaza in more than two months and came shortly after two rockets were fired at southern Israel.