An Israeli missile attack killed one Palestinian and injured five early Saturday in the Gaza Strip. It came less than 24 hours after an Israeli woman killed in Palestinian mortar attack on "Neve Dekalim" settlement
Hamas claimed responsibility for firing the two mortars. A video showed three masked activists setting up and firing a mortar. After the shell was fired, heavy gunfire could be heard - apparently the Israeli return fire at the nearby Palestinian town of Khan Younis. The Israeli fire wounded two Palestinians, including a 4-year-old boy, witnesses said.
In the early hours Saturday, an Israeli helicopter launched two missiles toward a group of Palestinians on the outskirts of a nearby refugee camp. Hospital officials said the dead and wounded were civilians. The dead was identified as Ali Abdullah Abu Nimr, 60.
Later, some 70 tanks and army bulldozers moved toward the Khan Younis camp, setting off heavy exchanges of fire, as soldiers called on residents over loudspeakers to leave their homes, witnesses said, according to The AP. Palestinians detonated a roadside bomb next to one bulldozer, setting the front of the vehicle on fire.
Officials said 20 homes were destroyed.
The Israeli military said the helicopter opened fire when four activists tried to launch a rocket or a rocket-propelled grenade from that area. (albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
