GAZA CITY, July 14: The Israeli air force on Sunday destroyed two buildings in the Gaza Strip, including one said to have been the home of a slain militant, while Israel went on high alert over fresh warnings of planned bombings.

A witness said two US-made Apache helicopters fired one rocket apiece at a building in Khan Yunis used by Palestinian police, who had evacuated the area before the strike.

The same witness said an F-16 warplane fired a rocket at another house nearby, destroying the three-story building. Hospital officials said five people were injured in the air raid, all of them civilians.

Israeli army radio said the three-storey building had been the home of a Palestinian suicide bomber from Hamas. Palestinian sources said only that the deceased owner had been a Hamas militant.

Witnesses said a man suspected of collaborating with Israel in a June 24 helicopter strike which killed six people, including three Hamas militants, was killed by relatives of the slain Islamists when police fled the Khan Yunis courtroom where he was being tried.

Meanwhile, Israel went on high security alert after police foiled two Palestinian attempts to penetrate Israel with explosives and renew deadly attacks which have died down in the past four weeks.

SHARON: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Sunday gave the go-ahead for a new round of talks between Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian officials, Sharon’s office said in a statement.