Two Palestinian boys, ages 15 and 14, were killed in an Israeli missile strike Thursday, their relatives said. Another teenager, a 13-year-old boy from Jebaliya, died Thursday of wounds suffered last week during the Israeli offensive in northern Gaza, hospital officials said. The army said its missile was aimed at militants about to fire a Qassam rocket. The boys' relatives said the two had been playing with an empty tube and gasoline-filled bottles, apparently trying to imitate the gunmen who fire the homemade rockets.The army said the incident began when an unmanned Israeli aircraft, or drone, spotted two suspicious figures on the edge of the Jebaliya refugee camp as they set up a rocket launcher. The drone spotted a flash, the army said. The people ran away, then returned to the launcher and were struck by the missile, the army said. The badly disfigured bodies were identified by relatives as those of 15-year-old Raed Abu Zeid and 14-year-old Suleiman Abu Foul. Abu Foul's older brother, Mohammed, 19, said he was told by the boys' friends that the two were playing on the outskirts of Jebaliya, about 200 yards from an Israeli tank position. Mohammed said he was told the two boys were playing with an empty tube and gasoline-filled bottles, imitating militants. Palestinian residents initially said the boys were killed by an Israeli tank shell.
Many Palestinian youngsters try to imitate the militants in their games, playing "firefight" with wooden sticks or toy machine guns. During the current Israeli operation, militants have appealed to parents in local radio broadcasts to keep children off the streets.