. | . |
Israeli jets hit militant camps in Gaza
Gaza City (AFP) Feb 26, 2011 Israeli warplanes bombed militant training camps in the Gaza Strip for a second time on Saturday, wounding four people including a toddler, Palestinian officials and medics said. The jets hit two training camps of the Ezzedine al-Qassem Brigades, the armed wing of Gaza's ruling Hamas movement, in the southern city of Rafah, Hamas security officials said. A family of four, including an 18-month-old girl, were lightly wounded, after their vehicle was hit by shrapnel as they were driving by one of the targets, Adham Abu Selmiya, a spokesman for the Hamas-run rescue services, told AFP. A third air strike hit an Islamic Jihad facility west of Khan Yunis, witnesses said. The raids came after pre-dawn strikes against two other training camps of the hardline Islamic Jihad group. The military said the attacks "targeted a number of terror hubs... in response to recent rocket fire into Israel." In the evening, a mortar round fired from Gaza into southern Israel hit the Eshkol sector, without causing casualties or damage, the military said. The air raids came after tensions rose along the Israel-Gaza border this week following clashes in which an Islamic Jihad gunman was killed and a rocket attack on the Israeli city of Beersheba that hit a house but caused no casualties. It was the first rocket to strike the city since the devastating offensive Israel waged against Gaza in December 2008-January 2009, and prompted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to warn the territory's militants not to "test" the Jewish state. That conflict killed 1,400 Palestinians, more than half of them civilians, and 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers. Also on Saturday, a Palestinian man was shot and wounded in the leg as he collected gravel near the border fence in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics said. Palestinians in Gaza frequently forage through the rubble along the territory's border with Israel, seeking construction materials which are otherwise in short supply because of an Israeli-imposed blockade. A military spokesman said a group of suspicious people were seen approaching the border. When they failed to heed warning shots, "soldiers fired toward their legs and identified hitting one of them." Israel imposes a 300-metre (yard) buffer zone along the length of the border as a "no-go" area where anyone who comes too close is liable to be shot at by soldiers manning watchtowers.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links
Third Greek ferry of Chinese fleeing Libya arrives in Crete Heraklion, Greece (AFP) Feb 26, 2011 A third Greek ferry chartered by China to evacuate its nationals from Libya cast anchor in the port of Heraklion on the southern Greek island of Crete early Saturday. The Venizelos, which had come from the Libyan second city Benghazi, now in the hand of insurgents, immediately began disembarking its 2,911 passengers. The Olympic Champion and Hellenic Spirit had already put into Heraklion ... read more |
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |