Israel air strike kills children, jihad activists
MIDDLE EAST: Three Palestinian children and two members of the
hardline Islamic Jihad movement were killed on Monday in an Israeli air
strike in Gaza City.
The two Jihad activists, Munir Sukar, 25, and Ashraf Shalluf, 24,
were travelling in a car in central Gaza City when it exploded into a
ball of flames after an Israeli aircraft fired at least one missile into
the vehicle.
Eight-year-old boy, Raed al-Batsh, and 15-year-old Ahmed al-Sweissi,
who were standing in Salaheddin Street at the time, were also killed in
the massive explosion.
Another 15-year-old boy died later from his wounds. Eight bystanders,
most of them children, were also wounded.
An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed that the military carried out
an air strike targeting a wanted militant from Islamic Jihad.
"A short while ago the IDF carried out an aerial attack in Gaza City
against a vehicle carrying an Islamic Jihad terrorist," she told AFP.
Israeli security sources said Sukar was wanted in connection with
Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel and bombings against troops before
Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip last September. While its larger
rival Hamas halted its campaign of anti-Israeli attacks in the past
year, Jihad has carried out half a dozen suicide bombings inside Israel
and snubbed January's Palestinian election that was won by Hamas.
Before the air raid, Hamas's chief parliamentarian, Mahmud al-Zahar,
warned Israel against any military escalation ahead of this month's
Israeli election, threatening that his faction would avenge every drop
of Palestinian blood.
"Everyone knows that before every election, crimes are committed (by
Israel). Those looking for success try to make more Palestinian blood
spill.
"This time, we say to them that no drop of Palestinian blood will run
without riposte," he told reporters in Gaza City.
An Islamic Jihad spokesman vowed the response to Monday's "crimes" in
Gaza City would strike "at the heart of the Zionist entity".
The attack came four days after Israel's Acting Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert warned that his forces would strike with an "iron fist against
any attempt to resume terrorist activity".
Gaza City, Tuesday, AFP |