Three Palestinian fighters were killed in an Israeli missile attack in the Gaza Strip late Sunday night, medical sources reported. An Israeli army spokesman confirmed the strike on a vehicle carrying two Palestinians, saying: "One of the men was responsible for firing rockets into Israel and another was involved in actions against Israelis."
One of the victims was critically wounded by the missile, which exploded near the home of Ismail Haniya, the Hamas government prime minister, in the Shali refugee camp near the Gaza City shoreline. The man later died of his wounds.
Ahmed al-Mazloun, Islamic Jihad's spokesman, known as Khattab al-Maqdiffi, was critically wounded, the hospital officials said. The second victim was identified as Nidal al-Amoudi of al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an offshoot of the Fatah faction.
Earlier on Sunday, Yuval Diskin, the head of the Israeli "Shin Bet" security service, said that the Israeli army killed over 800 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in 2006 and 2007. He said 200 were "definitely" militants. However, an examination by the Tel Aviv-based Haaretz newspaper reveals that half the number of Gazans killed by Israeli fire were not involved in attacks against Israel.
