Palestinian woman killed in Israeli air strike
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
GAZA (Reuters) – One woman was killed and 13 other
Palestinians were wounded on Wednesday in what appeared to be
the latest in a series of botched Israeli missile strikes
against Gaza militants, witnesses said.
An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed that the army had
carried out a strike against “a militant cell,” but gave no
further details.
The strike brought to 13 the number of Palestinian
civilians killed in recent Israeli air attacks, a death toll
that has brought international criticism and pushed Israel to
defend its tactics.
Witnesses said an Israeli aircraft fired a missile at a car
on a main road near the militant stronghold of Khan Younis.
The car, carrying members of the Islamic Jihad militant
group, escaped the attack but the missile slammed into a house.
Among the 13 wounded were a pregnant woman and four
children, including two less than a year old. Medics said some
were in critical condition.
ROCKET FIRE
Israel says air strikes are necessary to stem rocket fire
into the Jewish state by Palestinian militants.
The army has said it regrets civilian casualties and does
its utmost to prevent them.
Israeli leaders are under growing political pressure to
crack down on militants who have been firing crude rockets
which cause few Israeli casualties but sow consternation.
Militants stepped up rocket fire after a June 9 blast that
killed seven Palestinians on a Gaza beach. The deaths, for
which Israel said it was not responsible, prompted the ruling
Palestinian Islamist group Hamas to call off a 16-month-old
truce.
Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz, leader of the
centre-left Labour Party, has vowed to step up military
responses to the rocket fire from Gaza.
With his hometown of Sderot, near the Gaza border, under
frequent rocket attack, he has dropped hints Israel might
resume assassinating Hamas leaders.
Palestinians have condemned the bloodshed and said it would
fuel more violence.
(Additional reporting by Ori Lewis in Jerusalem)