Wednesday, January 22, 2014

'Two militants' dead in Israel Gaza Strip air strike

Two Palestinian militants have been killed by an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian and Israeli officials say.

Viewed through the windshield of a damaged bus, Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on 19 January 
Israel says that airstrikes are necessary to protect the south of the country from rocket attacks

The Israeli army said that one of the dead was Ahmad Zaanin, a militant who fired rockets during the funeral of former PM Ariel Sharon last week.
A Hamas radio station said the two men were members of Islamic Jihad.


The Islamist group has been blamed by Israel for a recent surge in cross-border rocket attacks.
The Israeli military said the overnight strike in Gaza had been necessary "to eliminate an imminent threat to the lives of Israeli civilians".

Map 
 
It said Mr Zaanin had been behind several recent rocket and shooting attacks in southern Israel.
Locals in Gaza were reported by the Reuters news agency as saying that Mr Zaanin and another militant - a relative of him - had been sitting in a parked car when it was hit by a missile.

There has been intermittent violence along the border since a ceasefire ended an eight-day conflict between Israel and militants in Gaza in November 2012.
Israel withdrew its troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip in 2005 under the orders of Mr Sharon.

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