An Israeli aircraft fired a missile at a home near a Hamas stronghold in the Jebaliya refugee camp on Sunday, killing one civilian and wounding eight other Palestinians, hospital officials said. It was not immediately clear why the army targeted the house, which was near the Kholfa Mosque, a power base for the militant group Hamas. The army did not immediately comment. The strike killed a 38-year-old Palestinian civilian and seriously wounded eight other Palestinians, including a girl, hospital officials said. It also caused extensive damage to homes and stores nearby, witnesses said.
 The attack was the latest in a 10-day-old Israeli operation in Jebaliya. The army is hunting down Palestinian militants who fire rockets at Israeli towns. Tanks and infantry operating in Jebaliya's narrow alleys, and the army has increased missile strikes on militants and weapons' workshops. Also Sunday, a Palestinian gunman wounded earlier in the offensive in northern Gaza died in the hospital, officials said. The two deaths brought the number of Palestinians killed in the operation to 96. Almost half of those killed were civilians, 18 were age 16 and under. |