TEL AVIV/GAZA - An Israeli ground force covered by helicopter gunships penetrated the southern Gaza Strip early Thursday, killing six Palestinians, hospital officials said. At least seven others were injured in what the Israeli army said was a raid aimed at uncovering tunnels dug by militants. An army spokeswoman said the force was attacked by armed Palestinians and returned fire east of the town of Khan Younis.Witnesses said an Israeli missile hit a crowd that included armed militants who were confronting the tanks and trying to stop them from advancing further. Four of people died on the spot while two others died of their wounds in hospital.
The dead were all members of the Qudeh family. Three of them were civilians, including a 14-year-old boy, while three others were militants of the governing Hamas movementÂ’s military wing, the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades. HamasÂ’ armed wing later said in a leaflet that it launched six rockets at the southern Israeli town of Sderot to revenge the deaths.
Earlier overnight, an Israeli F16 warplane fired a rocket a two-storey house in the northern Gaza Strip refugee camp of Jabaliya. Witnesses said the house owner, Abu Hassan Sallah, a senior Hamas militant, had been given advance warning. One bystander was slightly injured by shrapnel.
The Israeli army said Sallah had been storing weapons in his house. The Israel Air Force has destroyed more than 40 houses in the past three months said to be used for the storage of weapons. On Wednesday, an Israeli missile destroyed the eastern Gaza City home of a female legislator with the militant Hamas movement.