Gaza strip:
Israeli aircraft fired missiles at militant facilities in the Gaza Strip early on Friday, killing a Palestinian civilian and wounding 25 other people, Gaza officials said, as a new round of violence in the area threatened to escalate into a wider confrontation.
The airstrikes, confirmed by the Israeli military, followed Israeli air attacks a day earlier that killed two Islamic militants and touched off rocket fire from Gaza on southern Israel. The rockets caused no casualties but further increased tensions.
Gaza rescue officials said three separate airstrikes took place in Gaza City against training facilities of the militant Hamas group that rules the densely populated seaside territory. One set a nearby house on fire, destroying it and killing a 42-year-old civilian man, identified by health official Adham Abu Salmia as Bahajat Zaalan. Seven members of Zaalan's family his 65-year-old father, wife and five of his children were wounded, Abu Salmia said.
Fire also erupted in other houses and some were hit by shrapnel. In all, 25 people, including an infant, were wounded, seven of them critically, Abu Salmia said.
Gaza officials said an airstrike also targeted a Hamas training facility in southern Gaza, but no casualties were reported.
The Israeli military confirmed two airstrikes in all and warned that it would continue to operate against those who would attack Israel.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum accused Israel of an "unjustified escalation against Gaza" and urged Egypt, the leading regional mediator in Palestinian-Israeli affairs, to intervene. He said the flare-up in violence was designed "to test the response of the Arab world ... to a future war against Gaza and against the Palestinians in general."
Yasser Othman, the Egyptian ambassador to the Palestinians, said Thursday that he had been in contact with Israeli officials and Gaza-based militants in an attempt to defuse the violence.
The airstrikes, confirmed by the Israeli military, followed Israeli air attacks a day earlier that killed two Islamic militants and touched off rocket fire from Gaza on southern Israel. The rockets caused no casualties but further increased tensions.
Gaza rescue officials said three separate airstrikes took place in Gaza City against training facilities of the militant Hamas group that rules the densely populated seaside territory. One set a nearby house on fire, destroying it and killing a 42-year-old civilian man, identified by health official Adham Abu Salmia as Bahajat Zaalan. Seven members of Zaalan's family his 65-year-old father, wife and five of his children were wounded, Abu Salmia said.
Fire also erupted in other houses and some were hit by shrapnel. In all, 25 people, including an infant, were wounded, seven of them critically, Abu Salmia said.
Gaza officials said an airstrike also targeted a Hamas training facility in southern Gaza, but no casualties were reported.
The Israeli military confirmed two airstrikes in all and warned that it would continue to operate against those who would attack Israel.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum accused Israel of an "unjustified escalation against Gaza" and urged Egypt, the leading regional mediator in Palestinian-Israeli affairs, to intervene. He said the flare-up in violence was designed "to test the response of the Arab world ... to a future war against Gaza and against the Palestinians in general."
Yasser Othman, the Egyptian ambassador to the Palestinians, said Thursday that he had been in contact with Israeli officials and Gaza-based militants in an attempt to defuse the violence.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
