- Title: GAZA: Israeli aircraft strike the Gaza Strip repeatedly.
- Date: 18th December 2005
- Summary: (W1) KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA STRIP (DECEMBER 18, 2005) (REUTERS) MEN CARRYING THE BODY OF KHALED ABU SITTA, A SENIOR LEADER OF THE ABU EL-REESH BRIGADES WHO WAS KILLED ON SATURDAY NIGHT (DECEMBER 17) WHEN HIS CAR EXPLODED, INTO MORGUE; PARAMEDICS EXAMINING BODY; MEN GATHERING AROUND BODY
- Embargoed: 2nd January 2006 12:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Defence / Military
- Reuters ID: LVA4FU6MWDM4IXHJ03ECBRKRVM6A
- Story Text: Israeli aircraft struck the Gaza Strip repeatedly early on Sunday (December 18) and the army said it had targeted sites used by militants firing rockets into Israel and roads for transporting the makeshift missiles.
At least two Palestinians were wounded in eight raids, including a policeman and a baby who was hit in the face with shrapnel, medics said.
Key bridges in the northern Gaza Strip were also targeted, cutting roads for thousands of people.
Palestinian security forces and rescue teams rushed to the sites near the Southern Gaza Strip of Khan Younis and in northern Gaza Strip, searching for injuries and examining the damage.
Near a damaged bridge they were hurled to hear the sound of Israeli plains hovering above them, and ran for cover.
The Israeli army hit roads used by militants to access a rocket and mortar launch site, an army spokeswoman said.
A Palestinian baby girl was brought to the hospital in the Jabalya refugee camp with an injury in the eye. Witnesses say she was wounded by a shrapnel during one of the airstrikes which rocked the Gaza Strip during the night.
On Saturday night (December 17) a Palestinian militant was killed in an explosion in a car in the southern Gaza Strip which Palestinian officials blamed on Israel.
The Israeli army denied any involvement in the death of Khaled Abu Sitta, a senior leader of the Abu el-Reesh Brigades, who was killed when his car blew up as he drove at night between the southern Gaza cities of Khan Younis and Rafah.
Palestinian security sources and members of the Abu el-Reesh Brigades said an Israeli missile fired from an unidentified aircraft hit Sitta's car, killing him and turning the vehicle into a mound of charred and twisted metal.
The Abu el-Reesh Brigades said they would avenge Sitta's death.
The Israeli army, which often openly admits to strikes on militants' cars, denied involvement in the incident.
Palestinian militants have also occasionally been killed when explosives they were transporting detonated prematurely.
Repeated violence has dimmed hopes for peacemaking that had been kindled by Israel's withdrawal of troops and settlers from the impoverished Gaza Strip in September after 38 years of occupation.
Militant groups agreed to follow a truce until the end of the year in order to smooth the Gaza pullout, but their commitment to "ensure calm" formally expires at the end of the year.
Palestinian factions have fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for deadly raids against militants that in turn followed a suicide bombing that killed five Israelis on December 5.
Two rockets struck southern Israel on Saturday (December 17) and the army responded by firing artillery shells towards open fields in northern Gaza. Nobody was hurt in either incident.
Israel has vowed to track down and kill militants behind rocket attacks carried out by militant groups in Gaza. On Wednesday, it killed four militants in the Gaza Strip in a strike on their car. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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