Jerusalem - XINHUA
The Israeli military said it killed on Monday morning at least ten Gaza militants that were trying to infiltrate the country through two tunnels, as death toll of the two-week fighting exceeds 500.
The militants were trying to tunnel in their way from northern Gaza to the Israeli side of the border when they were detected by the Israelis.
A spokesman for Israel's military said in a statement that " Israel Air Force aircraft targeted one squad ... and a hit was confirmed," adding that soldiers called to the scene killed ten other terrorists from the other squad.
He added that searches were still underway in the area.
The on-going bloody surge of violence between Israel and the Islamist Hamas Movement in two years has already left 508 dead in the Gaza Strip, most of whom were civilians, while Israel lost 18 soldiers and two civilians.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is due to arrive on Monday in Cairo in an attempt to draft a cease-fire agreement between the warring sides.
On Tuesday, he is expected to arrive in Jerusalem in order to continue the peace-seeking talks with the Israeli government. The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon is also expected to arrive later this week.
So far, despite ongoing attempts to reach a cease fire agreement, a breakthrough has not yet been made. Egypt brokered a cease fire proposal on Tuesday rejected by Hamas, which said their demands have not been met and that they weren't a part of the discussions to form the truce deal.