GAZA, July 3 (Xinhua) -- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) clarified late Monday night that the aim of its earlier night incursion into northern Gaza Strip was to prevent attacks similar to the one that was carried out near the Kerem Shalom crossing on Sunday last week.

    "The operation that is going on now aims at searching for underground tunnels and roadside bombs that might be founded along with the borders between the Gaza Strip and Israel," IDF spokesman Avihai Adr'ee told the independent Palestinian news agency (Ramattan).

    He added that the incursion would be only into 500 meters into the Palestinian depth to search for tunnels and roadside bombs. Earlier, Palestinian eyewitnesses and security sources said Israeli army resumed its ground operation in Gaza on Monday night as dozens of army tanks, Armored Personnel Carriers (APC),vehicles and bulldozers incurred into the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun.

    Eyewitnesses in the town said that they saw from the top roofs of their homes in the town columns of tanks turning their front lights in the middle of darkness and moving to reoccupy the town with 30,000 populations.

    Security officials asserted that the Israeli army resumed its "Summer Rains" ground military offensive into the Gaza Strip, which was postponed on Friday night to give diplomatic efforts another chance to free an Israeli captive soldier.

    Shortly afterwards, one Palestinian was killed and two were injured by the fragments of a rocket fired by an Israeli army reconnaissance drone also in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun.

    Eyewitnesses said that an air-to-ground rocket was fired at an area northeast of the town, adding that the fragments of the rocket wounded three civilians, one of them died later. Palestinian medics confirmed the death, saying that Isma'eel Al-Masri, 19, was killed.

    Witnesses said that al-Masri is a militants of the ruling Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and he was killed as he was trying to plant a roadside bomb in the area.

    The drone's rocket was fired at the area as some 20 Israeli army tanks, Armored Personnel Carriers (APC), vehicles and bulldozers incurred on Monday night into northeast of Beit Hanoun, Palestinian security sources said.

    Israeli soldier Gil'ad Shalit was abducted on Sunday last week by three militant groups led by Hamas armed wing al-Qassam Brigades in an attack on an Israeli army post southeast of the Gaza Strip.

    The kidnappers said that they would only free the soldier if Israel releases some 1400 prisoners, including minor and female prisoners, as well as sick prisoners, prisoners with high sentence and other nationalities prisoners.

    Israel has rejected the demands of the kidnappers and insisted to carry out a large-scale air and ground operation into the Gaza Strip aiming at freeing the captive Israeli soldier. Enditem