GAZA: Palestinian Militants vow revenge after Israeli airstrikes killed three in Gaza city

Record ID: 341687

  • Title: GAZA: Palestinian Militants vow revenge after Israeli airstrikes killed three in Gaza city
  • Date: 5th February 2006
  • Summary: SUNRISE OVER SITE
  • Embargoed: 20th February 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations,Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVAAP2ASML9JC0FNZFR36QLP745A
  • Story Text: Palestinians in Gaza city awoke to sites of debris leftover from a vehicle hit by Israeli missiles in an overnight airstrike early on Sunday (February 5), the first such attack since Hamas swept victory in legislative elections last month.
    The Israeli air strike targeted a car in Gaza City, killing three members of an armed wing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement, and wounding five, medics and witnesses said.
    The car was hit moments after an attack helicopter shot several missiles at the club as militants met there, sending many fleeing to the streets before the deadly missile struck the vehicle, which was also near a Gaza security headquarters.
    Goma Al-Saqa, a doctor at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, told Reuters the bodies were charred and dismembered.
    An Israeli military official said "a short time ago we staged an air attack against the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades after their continued rocket fire at Israeli towns".
    It was Israel's first air attack on Palestinians since a January 25 parliamentary election in which the Islamic militant group Hamas scored an upset victory over Abbas's Fatah party.
    The Israeli attacks also came after a rocket fired from Gaza destroyed an Israeli home on Friday wounding three people, including a baby. That attack was claimed by Islamic Jihad militants.
    But the Al Aqsa group has claimed responsibility for the vast majority of rockets fired at Israel since it pulled its forces out of Gaza in September. The group said it fired four rockets at Israel on Saturday.
    Makeshift rockets shot from Gaza seldom cause any damage or injury. Israel often retaliates for those attacks that do cause casualties.
    Abu Al-Saed, a leader of a coalition of militants called the Popular Resistance Committees, vowed a "hard and painful" response to the Israeli strikes. The coalition has been involved in frequent rocket attacks alongside the Al-Aqsa group.
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