- Title: GAZA: Israeli airstrike kills militant in Gaza
- Date: 28th September 2007
- Summary: BODY INSIDE MORGUE REFRIGERATOR VARIOUS OF PEOPLE LOOKING AT BODY IN MORGUE REFRIGERATOR MAN SLIDING BODY INSIDE MORGUE REFRIGERATOR AND CLOSING DOOR
- Embargoed: 13th October 2007 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Defence / Military
- Reuters ID: LVA59Z5KT0VZ35NFALBK1FBL6NRO
- Story Text: An Islamic Jihad militant is dead and two others wounded following a strike in Gaza by Israeli war planes.
An Israeli air missile strike killed one Palestinian militant in the Gaza Strip on Thursday (September 27), medical workers and witnesses said, a day after 11 Palestinians were killed during another Israeli raid into the coastal territory.
Residents said the attack killed one gunmen and wounded two others from the Islamic Jihad militant group.
An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed the army attacked a group of militants in northern Gaza who had just fired a rocket at Israel.
Israel launched a raid into the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun on Wednesday(September 26), following a surge in cross-border rocket salvoes.
Palestinian militants fought back.
The Israeli army said its troops had pulled back overnight after Wednesday's raid, but Israel's deputy defence minister said on Thursday the lull in fighting would not last.
"To fight (the militants). That is the only solution ... One time with a small operation, one time with a big operation," Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai told Israel Radio.
The Islamist group Hamas, which seized control of Gaza from rival forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in June, vowed revenge, and said Israel would "pay heavily" for the attack.
Witnesses said Israeli troops pulled back to positions they had held earlier inside the coastal territory.
At least 21 Palestinians were also wounded in some of the fiercest fighting since Hamas seized control. One Hamas militant who was wounded on Wednesday died in hospital early on Thursday.
Israel, which last week declared Gaza an "enemy entity", has signalled that it could order its forces in to seize areas used for launching improvised, short-range rockets into Israel: "We are getting closer to carrying out a widespread operation in Gaza," Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on Wednesday.
Israel withdrew troops and Jewish settlers from the coastal enclave in 2005, although it retains control of its air, land and sea borders. The government said last week it was considering cutting energy and other supplies to the territory's 1.5 million people because of the continuing rocket fire. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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