Israel air strike kills two Gazans, wounds one: medics
AFP
RAFAH, Palestinian Territories- An Israeli air strike on the Gaza Strip killed two Palestinians and wounded one late on Wednesday, the Hamas-run emergency services said.
The strike, which was witnessed by an AFP photographer, hit a car in the town of Rafah on the territory's southern border with Egypt.
The emergency services identified the dead as Ashraf Saleh and Anis Abu Elenein.
A military source cited by Israeli public radio said the strike was targeted at "terrorists" of the Palestinian Hamas movement which controls the Gaza Strip "who were preparing to carry out an attack against Israel."
"The martyrs were carrying out a routine mission of monitoring and securing the southern border between Gaza and Egypt," a Hamas statement said.
Gaza militants fired two mortar rounds into southern Israel earlier Wednesday without causing casualties or damage, the army said.
Israel routinely responds to such attacks with air strikes, and last week six Palestinians were killed in two attacks within a 12-hour period.
The last major flare-up in and around Gaza was in June, when militants fired more than 150 rockets at southern Israel, wounding five people, and Israel hit back with air strikes that killed 15 Palestinians.
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A military source cited by Israeli public radio said the strike was targeted at "terrorists" of the Palestinian Hamas movement which controls the Gaza Strip "who were preparing to carry out an attack against Israel."
"The martyrs were carrying out a routine mission of monitoring and securing the southern border between Gaza and Egypt," a Hamas statement said.
Gaza militants fired two mortar rounds into southern Israel earlier Wednesday without causing casualties or damage, the army said.
Israel routinely responds to such attacks with air strikes, and last week six Palestinians were killed in two attacks within a 12-hour period.
The last major flare-up in and around Gaza was in June, when militants fired more than 150 rockets at southern Israel, wounding five people, and Israel hit back with air strikes that killed 15 Palestinians.
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