Gaza/Tel Aviv - The death toll from violence in Gaza climbed
to 14 by late Thursday after an Israeli air attack killed three
members of the radical Islamic Hamas organization, a Palestinian
hospital spokesman in Gaza said.
Earlier in the day, seven Palestinians died in an unexplained
explosion in the house of a Hamas bomb-maker in the northern Gaza
Strip that wounded more than two dozen others, medical officials and
witnesses said.
The earlier death toll from the explosion had been reported as
four.
Earlier Thursday, Israeli troops killed two Palestinian gunmen in
the Gaza Strip identified as members of the armed wing of the Fatah
movement and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
A military spokeswoman in Tel Aviv said soldiers stationed on the
border spotted the two gunmen approaching the fence and opened fire.
Local Palestinian media reports said the two were killed as they
tried to storm an army 'post' in the town of Beit Lahiya in the
northern strip.
Israeli soldiers shot one and after a short chase, the second as
well. An AK-47 semi-automatic rifle and ammunition was found on the
second body, the spokeswoman said.
Two other Palestinians were killed in the course of the day,
according to reports, but details were not available.
In the house explosion, some witnesses said the blast was caused
by the detonation of explosives stored inside the house in Beit
Lahiya. Other witnesses and Hamas insisted the explosion was the
result of an Israeli airstrike.
An Israeli military spokeswoman in Tel Aviv said the Israel
Defence Force was not connected in any way to the incident.
Hamas has previously blamed Israel for the deaths of its members
from the premature detonation of explosives they were handing.
In the past, the Israeli military has sometimes denied
responsibility for actions which it was later found to have carried
out.
One of the dead was a baby; others included Hamas militants who
were in the house when it blew up. The wounded included passers-by
who had been in the street at the time of the blast.
Hamas responded to the incident by launching a rocket and mortar
barrage on southern Israel, firing at least 40 projectiles. One woman
was slightly injured.
The latest fatalities come as both Israel and Hamas appear to be
edging toward an Egyptian-mediated truce which would end the violence
in and around the Gaza Strip of almost-daily militant rocket launches
and Israel ground and air raids.
But analysts have speculated that both sides may escalate their
actions before any possible truce comes into effect, in order to show
they are not entering into a ceasefire out of weakness.
margeJun 13th, 2008 - 03:28:48
The cycle of violence between Israeli Jews and the Palestinian will continue until Iran or an arab country gets nuclear bombs just like Israel. Another country in the region that is militarily as powerful as Israel will send message to Israel that its reign of terror is over. No longer will land stealing, murder, genocide, and other war crimes and human rights violations be tolerated without dire consequences to Israel.
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