RAFAH, Gaza Strip, Aug 12 (AFP) - Israeli army bulldozers demolished 15 houses in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah near the Egyptian border early Thursday, Palestinian security sources said.
An Israeli spokesman confirmed the destruction of "several empty houses which had been used as cover for attacks" against troops deployed along the border between Gaza and Egypt.
Residents also reported that a building was badly destroyed when an Israeli helicopter fired two rockets late Wednesday.
A group of around 15 locals who have lost their homes in the Rafah destructions in recent days staged a protest at the local governor's office Thursday demanding a greater effort to rehouse them.
The United Nations' agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA has said a total of nearly 1,500 houses have been destroyed in the Rafah region since the September 2000 start of the Palestinian intifada against Israeli occupation.
Many of the houses have been destroyed as part of army operations designed to detect cross-border tunnels used to smuggle in weapons from Egypt.