RAFAH, Egypt — Israel’s Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip is rattling Egyptians on the Egyptian side of the Gaza border. Eyewitnesses on the Egyptian side said houses along the border that is adjacent to the Gaza Strip have been directly affected by the intense Israeli bombardment.

According to the residents of the Egyptian part of Rafah, Israeli fighter jets have continuously hit the tunnels on the Gaza side of the border. They have been targeting tunnel entrances with highly explosive concussion bombs to destroy the main outlets of the tunnel on the Palestinian side, and cause earthquakes to demolish parts of the underground tunnel between the Egyptian and Palestinian sides of the border.

Abu Mohammed al-Shaer, who resides in a two-story building on the border with the Gaza Strip, told Al-Monitor, “We are living in fear as the Israeli occupation army is bombing the Palestinian border that is located within no more than 300 meters [984 feet] away from us.”

He added, “No one can imagine how harsh the bombardment is. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a strong artificial magnitude 5 earthquake. The F-16 Fighting Falcons are striking the border all night until sunrise with the most intense missiles we have ever seen, although we have witnessed all of the wars on the Gaza Strip given that we are in the vicinity.”