Israel declares seven hour partial truce

A motorbike is removed from a tunnel along the Israeli-Gaza border.

It's footage released by the Israeli army.

Israel says tunnels like this one are used by Palestinian militants to infiltrate the country and carry out attacks.

The army said it was discovered when Islamists were seen emerging from it. The militants and five soldiers were killed in the fighting.

(SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) ISRAELI COMMANDER SAYING:

"We discovered motorcycles and many weapons, on a wider scale than found so far in a tunnel in the Gaza Strip. Those motorcycles, we think, were supposed to be used to exit a tunnel access located 300 metres away from here to the east in order to execute a terrorist attack inside Israel. This is the first time that we encounter motorcycles in such incident."

Destroying these tunnels is Israel's main mission in Gaza. The army says the operation's nearly complete and is winding down the offensive.

More than 1700 Palestinians and dozens of Is