An Israeli airstrike targeting a key figure in Palestinian rocket attacks killed 10 people Tuesday, including the militant, two children and three medical workers who rushed to the scene of an initial blast.
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The Israeli military said its aircraft targeted militants on a mission to launch Katyusha rockets at southern Israel. Palestinian witnesses said the first missile missed the vehicle, which then crashed into a curb and was struck by two other missiles. The last two missiles killed the civilians and wounded 32 others, three of them seriously. Also killed was Hamoud Wadiya, Islamic Jihad's top rocket launcher, and an unidentified person in his van, whom the Israeli military identified as another Palestinian militant.
ADDITIONAL: The Islamic Jihad said earlier that two of its operatives who were killed were Hamoud Wadiya, the group's top rocket launcher, and Shawki Sayklia. Nine Palestinian civilians, including two schoolchildren, were also killed Tuesday when a missile fired by the IAF detonated the Katyushas inside the car. The army had originally said it had proof that only one missile had been fired and that the terrorists were the only target in the strike.
However, the IDF later rescinded that claim, saying that the first missile struck near the vehicle but failed to kill the terrorists. Following the initial strike a crowd of Palestinian onlookers gathered. | Car swarm hopefuls, got there a wee bit early |
By that time, said a senior IDF officer, an IAF aircraft had already launched a second missile at the target. The second missile, which could not be rerouted, struck the Katyusha-laden vehicle, causing the casualties.
Dire revenge. Yadda, Tadda. |