Palestinians gather a round the wreckage of motorcycle following an Israeli air strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012. Israel's military says it has fired on two Gaza members of an al-Qaida-inspired group identified as having been involved in rocket attacks and an infiltration from Egypt. Palestinians say one man was killed. The military said they were involved in "extensive terrorist activity," including an attack in June where two gunmen crossed into Israel from the Sinai desert and killed a civilian. Israel did not say whether it hit the two. Ashraf al-Kidra, a Palestinian health official in Gaza said one man was killed and another injured Sunday when their motorcycle was hit by aircraft in the south of the Hamas-controlled territory. Israel and Hamas have mostly kept an unwritten truce since a short war over three years ago. Attacks have persisted but at a much lower rate. (AP Photo/Eyad Baba)
Palestinians gather a round the wreckage of motorcycle following an Israeli air strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012. Israel's military says it has fired on two Gaza members of an al-Qaida-inspired group identified as having been involved in rocket attacks and an infiltration from Egypt. Palestinians say one man was killed. The military said they were involved in "extensive terrorist activity," including an attack in June where two gunmen crossed into Israel from the Sinai desert and killed a civilian. Israel did not say whether it hit the two. Ashraf al-Kidra, a Palestinian health official in Gaza said one man was killed and another injured Sunday when their motorcycle was hit by aircraft in the south of the Hamas-controlled territory. Israel and Hamas have mostly kept an unwritten truce since a short war over three years ago. Attacks have persisted but at a much lower rate. (AP Photo/Eyad Baba)
A Palestinian man carries a wounded boy in Al Najar Hospital following an Israeli air strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012. Israel's military says it has fired on two Gaza members of an al-Qaida-inspired group identified as having been involved in rocket attacks and an infiltration from Egypt. Palestinians say one man was killed. The military said they were involved in "extensive terrorist activity," including an attack in June where two gunmen crossed into Israel from the Sinai desert and killed a civilian.Israel did not say whether it hit the two. Ashraf al-Kidra, a Palestinian health official in Gaza said one man was killed and another injured Sunday when their motorcycle was hit by aircraft in the south of the Hamas-controlled territory. Israel and Hamas have mostly kept an unwritten truce since a short war over three years ago. Attacks have persisted but at a much lower rate. (AP Photo/Eyad Baba)
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) ? Israeli forces and Palestinian militants exchanged fire on Monday in the most serious flare-up in months along the border with the Gaza Strip, officials said.
The latest exchange came after Israel targeted two men in an airstrike into southern Gaza on Sunday night, killing one and wounding the other. Israel said they were militant jihadists responsible for attacks.
Then, militants of the Islamic group Hamas that rules Gaza and a smaller hardline offshoot, Islamic Jihad, fired some 30 rockets toward Israel's southern border on Monday morning, causing some property damage but no casualties, said an Israeli military spokeswoman. She spoke on condition of anonymity, citing military rules.
Gaza's interior ministry said Israel's military launched around 20 tank shells and an airstrike, mostly toward targets around the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.
Palestinian health official Ashraf al-Kidra said five people were injured after a strike near a mosque. Another mosque was targeted nearby and a factory was targeted in east of Gaza City, according to the interior ministry.
The Israeli military spokeswoman said the houses of worship were used as "Hamas posts" but did not offer more information.
Fearing further attacks, Hamas security officials evacuated their compounds, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the group's movements.
Hamas has not confirmed the identity of the two men targeted Sunday. The Israeli military said the two were members of an al-Qaida-inspired group identified as having been involved in rocket attacks and an infiltration from Egypt.
Hamas' spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the group on Monday fired rockets back to show Israel that it could not operate freely in Gaza. "We have the right to defend ourselves," Zuhri said.
Israel and Hamas have held to a shaky, unspoken truce over the past two years but the latest exchange was the worst barrage from Gaza since June, according to the Israeli spokeswoman.
The exchange also comes in the wake of Israel downing a foreign drone over its territory on Saturday. Israeli officials would not say where the drone came from, although suspicion fell on the Lebanese group Hezbollah, a Hamas ally. On Sunday, Israeli aircrafts swooped over Lebanon, setting of sonic booms that rattled villages in the pro-Hezbollah south.
Associated PressGoogle Ryder Cup Standings anne hathaway Dexter Season 7 Ryder Cup 2012 Johnny Lewis pnc
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.