JERUSALEM, Israel - The Israel Air Force (IAF) targeted a smuggling tunnel near the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip overnight.

The air strike followed a mortar shell attack near Israel's Erez border crossing with Gaza.

The attack took place as ambulances transported Palestinians from Gaza to Israeli hospitals for treatment. The mortar shells missed the ambulances.

Earlier Sunday, Gaza-based Palestinians fired a Kassam rocket into southern Israel, which landed in a field in the Sdot Negev Regional Council, causing no injuries or property damage.

"We are again witness to the way terror groups misuse the humanitarian services Israel offers the residents of the Gaza Strip," said Col. Moshe Levy, who heads the IDF's Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration.

"This type of attack, against a crossing that is used by the Palestinian civilian population, is first and foremost an attack on the weakest Palestinians - those who require medical treatment outside of Gaza," he said.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have fired some 700 Kassam rockets, mortar shells and Grad missiles at southern Israeli communities since the beginning of 2009. 

Source: IDF Spokesperson's Office, The Jerusalem Post