Four Palestinians were killed Saturday when the Mercedes car in which they were traveling blew up in the Gaza Strip, near the settlement of Netzarim. According to Palestinian sources, the car was badly damaged and parts of it were flung a long distance away. Apparently, there were three passengers in the car, and the fourth victim was a motorcyclist who traveled near the vehicle. The victims have not yet been identified. The Israel Defense Forces said it had nothing to do with the explosion, and that it was probably the result of a "work accident," when explosives blew up prematurely. The army said Palestinians had fired two anti-tank missiles and sprayed machine gun fire at IDF soldiers near Netzarim earlier in the day, but that nobody had been injured. The Popular Resistance Committees, a militant extremist group that includes former members of all Palestinian factions, said three of the four people killed were its members. The fourth, it said, was the motorcycle driver. The group claimed Israeli forces had planted a bomb in the car and detonated it by remote control from a helicopter in the area.
Also Saturday Palestinian sources said that a 15-year-old girl, Halima Abu Samadana, who was shot by IDF troops in Rafah several days ago died of her wounds. Earlier reports claimed the girl was killed Saturday, Israel Radio reported. The IDF said it was unfamiliar with any shooting incident on Saturday and that it was checking the report.
On Friday, a resident of Beit Hanun in the Gaza Strip tried to attack soldiers manning an IDF roadblock on the road leading to the town. Upon approaching the checkpoint, the man pulled a Kalashnikov assault rifle out of his bag and began shooting at the soldiers and threw a grenade. The soldiers shot at the man, but he managed to escape uninjured. No soldiers were injured in the botched attack. |