Gaza City  - Israeli F16 warplanes rocketed tunnels and a Hamas outpost in two separate airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip Tuesday evening, witnesses said.

At least two rockets struck the border area between the southern Gaza town of Rafah and Egypt, they said, adding they heard two successive loud explosions in the area and the sound of F16s flying overheard.

One missile also hit a a post of the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, the radical Islamic movement ruling Gaza. No injuries were reported in either of the strikes.

The Israeli army head earlier warned residents in the border area to evacuate their homes in prerecorded messages on their mobile phones, as well as in flyers dropped over the area.

The Israeli airstrikes come after Palestinian militants earlier in the day launched a Russian-type Grad rocket at the southern Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon, hit for the first time since Israel some two week ago ended a 22-day offensive in Gaza aimed at curbing such rocket attacks. dpa