Israel targets car, missing militants but killing teen, two children

MIDDLE EAST: Israeli aircraft fired a missile at a car in the crowded Jebaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza missing targeted Palestinian militants but killing a teen, two children and wounding nine people, clouding efforts to restart peace talks.

The Israeli military said the car was carrying militants from the Al Aqsa martyrs' Brigades, affiliated with President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement. Witnesses said the men in the car jumped out before the missile hit.

The dead children were a five year old boy, Mohammed Roka, and his seven-year-old sister, Needa, said Dr. Jumma Fatah of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. A 16-year-old girl died later of her wounds, hospital officials said.

The car exploded on a narrow street in the crowded refugee camp. The front of the car was badly damaged, but the back was intact.

Hundreds of angry Palestinians gathered around the vehicle, shouting slogans. Khalil Roka, a cousin of the dead boy, said he was sitting in front of his car repair shop while the children played in front of the house nearby.

He said he saw a red flash a the car exploded, and the children were hit, but he didn't see the boy who was killed. "I was carrying my other cousins to the ambulance," he said.

Israel's Channel 2 TV said the raid was "another failed assassination attempt, and again innocent civilians were hit."

The army said it regretted any civilian casualties caused by the airstrike.

Army spokesman Capt. Jacob Dallal said the militants in the car were involved in firing rockets at Israel and blamed the Palestinian government for allowing the attacks.

"When we see people who are actively involved in firing, they are completely legitimate military target," he said, "and we will continue to take every precaution to keep civilians out of harm's way." Gaza,Wednesday,AP