On Friday, the Israeli Air Force reportedly struck at a target in Gaza Strip, killing two Palestinians in the process.
A spokesman for the Palestinian Health Ministry said that the target for the Israelis was a civilian vehicle driving along the Gaza coast, close to the al-Shati refugee camp and Ismail Haniyeh’s home, second in command of Hamas. Several others were also reportedly wounded in the strike.
The two killed in the strike were identified as 23 year old Mohammed al-Fasih and 25 year old Usama al-Hassumi, both residents of the Shikh Radwan neighborhood in the north of Gaza city. Both of them were members of the Salah al-Din Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees. The Israeli Defense Forces said al-Hassumi and al-Fasih were participants in rocket fire in the south of Israel in the recent weeks, it said in a statement following the attacks. It added that they were planning “severe terrorist attacks: against Israeli civilians in recent days.
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, after the attack, said that rocket fire from Gaza Strip will not go ignored. He added that Israel “will hunt down and hit hard” anyone planning or involved in rocket fire at Israel, and that it considers Hamas responsible for any strikes on Gaza.
On Friday morning, an explosion near the security fence at the Southern Gaza Strip struck army soldiers carrying on duty at the post. Nobody was reported injured in the attack; Israeli soldiers returned fire from lookout points in Gaza Strip.
According to Palestinian medical officials, five people, two men in their twenties, two women in their twenties and an eight year old boy, were wounded to the east of Khan Yunis by the Israeli gunfire. According to sources from Gaza, ten shells were fired at the plaza of a mosque and at homes in the town Huzaa.
Several hours prior to the strike, Israeli soldiers had arrested 9 Palestinians in West Bank, where they had found two handguns in Beitunia and a bomb in in Idhna.