Monday, March 12, 2012

(21Now) 2 killed, 41 injured in fourth day of Gaza airstrikes

http://www.maannews.net/eng
The parents of a militant mourn next to his body at the scene of an Israeli
air strike in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip March 12, 2012.
(REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- Israeli airstrikes killed two Islamic Jihad militants in southern Gaza on Monday, bringing the death toll since Friday to 20 people.

Raafat Abu Eid, 24, was killed in Khan Younis when an airstrike targeted a vehicle he was traveling in. Two other militants sustained injuries and a female passerby was also injured, a Ma'an correspondent said.

Hamadah Salman Abu Mutlaq, 24, was killed near a mosque in a village east of Khan Younis after warplanes fired at him. Three others were injured and taken to hospital for treatment.

Medical spokesman in Gaza Adham Abu Salmiya said that Israeli airstrikes hit two homes in the northern Gaza Strip, injuring 33 civilians, most of whom were women and children.

Most sustained moderate injuries, with one critically injured, and were transferred to hospital.

A 17-year-old woman and another man were also injured as Israeli missiles struck a home in Gaza City, Abu Salmiya said.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said aircraft had carried out six strikes on Monday. She added that at least two rockets had landed in Israel since midnight.

The army targeted "a weapons storage facility and four rocket launching sites in the northern Gaza Strip, as well as a rocket launching site in the southern Gaza Strip," a statement said.

Gaza's prime minister Ismail Haniyeh said late on Sunday that neighboring Egypt was working to stop the violence and was consulting with militant factions but added that Israel would have to first stop its air strikes.

The latest round of violence flared on Friday when an Israeli airstrike killed two militant leaders in Gaza.

Israel accused them of planning a cross-border attack via Egypt, although an Egyptian official said Sunday that the Sinai is "fully under control."

"This is an attempt by Israel to give justification for the offensive against Gaza," he said.

On Sunday, PLO official Hanan Ashrawi strongly condemned Israel's latest military escalation.

"The Israeli government has acted with impunity for its unilateral violations for far too long. The illegal, cruel siege of the Gaza Strip, along with all other violations of international law must come to an end."

The PLO official called on the international community to take serious measures to halt Israel's policy of extrajudicial executions and the continued killing of innocent civilians.

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