Israel stated that it would shut all border crossing in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday in response to Qassam shells fired by Palestinian fighters from the Gaza Strip into adjacent Israeli areas, according to Israeli sources.

Military sources in Israel said that a homemade Qassam shell was fired on Monday and hit an area near the Negev town of Sderot. The shell landed in an open area causing no damage or injuries.

According to the Israel army, this attack comes two days after Palestinian fighters fired a homemade shell at the Western Negev; this shell also landed in an open area.

The decision to shut down the border crossing was announced by the Israeli Defense Ministry later on Monday.

This would be the third time Israel has closed the crossings since a fragile truce was declared between the two sides on June 19.

Haaretz reported that Raed Fattouh, a Palestinian official in charge of coordinating the delivery of supplies into Gaza, stated that he was notified by Israeli officials that no good or supplies would be allowed into Gaza on Tuesday.

The Palestinian Information Center, run by Hamas, reported on Sunday that three residents were hospitalized after suffocating under the rubble of a collapsed tunnel in Rafah, on the borders between Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, and Egypt. Seven residents are still missing.

The three wounded residents are currently in stable conditions after receiving the needed medical attention.  They were located on Saturday at night; the tunnel collapsed on Saturday evening.

On August 1, four Palestinians were killed and fourteen others were wounded in a similar incident that took place Al Barazil neighborhood, east of Rafah.  

Palestinian sources in the Gaza Strip reported that five Palestinians were killed and at least 15 others were wounded when a tunnel on the Gaza- Egypt border, near Rafah, collapsed on them on Friday at night.

Eyewitnesses reported that several Palestinians were digging the tunnel but it suddenly collapsed on them trapping twenty under the rubble.

Dr. Moawiya Hassanen, head of the Emergency Unit at the Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed the report.  He added that the accident was probably caused by a gas explosion.

Dr. Hassanen added that most of the casualties suffocated after the tunnel collapsed on them.   

 The Israeli government claims that the tunnels on the borders are meant for smuggling weapons and ammunition into the Gaza Strip, but the Palestinians say that these tunnels are a response to the Israeli siege on the impoverished Gaza Strip.

Palestinian sources reported on Friday at night that one Palestinian was wounded and four others went missing when a tunnel on the border between Rafah and Egypt collapsed during evening hours.

Medical sources reported that Mohammad Al Basthteeny, 23,  was moved to Abu Yousef Al Najjar Hospital in Rafah after suffocating while trying to save four residents who went missing under the rubble of the collapsed tunnel.

Al Bashteeny is in serious condition while the fate of the four missing residents remains unknown.

So far, armed groups in Gaza did not make any statements regarding the incident. It is worth mentioning that some tunnels on the Gaza-Egypt borders are dug by smugglers while others are dug by fighters in order to smuggle arms and ammunition into the coastal region.

The Israeli naval forces detained on Tuesday morning 10 Palestinian fishermen , while on board on Rafah shores to the south of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian security sources reported.

Witnesses said that Israeli naval boats intercepted fishing boats on board of Rafah shores earlier on Tuesday morning then arrested ten of them, taking them to unknown destination.

Israeli naval attacks on Palestinian fishermen have recently increased in the coastal region as Israel enforces a crippling closure on the coastal territory since June of last year.

Palestinian sources estimate that there are 4600 Gaza families who earn living through fishing.