Israeli strike kills Gaza militant

An Israeli missile strike killed at least one Palestinian militant and wounded four others in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, militants and medical workers said.

An official from the Islamic Jihad militant group said several of its members were hit by an Israeli missile after they fired four makeshift rockets into southern Israel.

An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed there had been a strike on a group of militants that had launched mortar bombs from the Hamas Islamist-controlled territory towards Israel.

The violence came several hours before US President George W. Bush arrives in the region to promote talks between the Jewish state and Palestinians, aimed at reaching a peace agreement before he leaves office in January 2009.

Gaza, Wednesday, Reuters