Israeli Air Strike Kills Two in Gaza

Israeli helicopters fired two missiles at a pickup truck in Gaza City on Monday, killing two Palestinians and wounding five in the second air strike in less than three hours.

The identity of those killed was not immediately known. Israeli radio reports said the men targeted were from the Islamic militant group Hamas. In the past three years, Israel has killed dozens of wanted Palestinian militants in targeted attacks.

The pickup had stopped at a traffic light near a gas station, on a busy street crowded with schoolchildren, when the missiles hit the front of the vehicle. A kindergarten and an elementary school had just let out students for the day.

Bus driver Ahmed Sobeh said he was driving behind the pickup at the time. “Suddenly, a big flame came from the sky and hit the car in front of me,” he said. “School children were trying to cross the road (at the time) … I saw a person in the car being evacuated and his body was completely burned. I also saw a teenager on the side of the street covered with blood but he was alive.”

Less than three hours earlier, Israeli warplanes had attacked a house under construction where the army says small rockets were being made. The alleged weapons workshop was just 200 yards from the home of Islamic Jihad leader Abdullah Shami. Shami was not hurt, but Palestinian rescue crews said six others were, including two children.