An Israeli airstrike killed at least two Hamas gunmen in Gaza City on Monday, a day after a top commander of the Palestinian militant group was killed in a similar attack, military officials and witnesses said.
Tensions have increased in Gaza since Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced a plan to withdraw troops and settlers by the end of next year from the narrow coastal strip captured by the Jewish state in the 1967 Middle East war.
Militants hope to make the army withdraw under fire. Israel is determined to crush Palestinian armed groups before leaving and vowed to target leaders of Hamas after the group carried out a suicide bombing that killed 16 Israelis last month.
Hospital officials said eight bystanders were hurt by Monday night’s missile strike, which tore apart the gunmen’s car.
Witnesses described a flash of light from Israeli aircraft circling overhead before the blast. The army confirmed targeting “two Hamas terrorists” and said they were en route to launching Qassams, crude rockets made by the Islamic group, into Israel.
Palestinians gathered round the wreckage, chanting: “We will give our souls and our blood for the martyrs.” They also vowed revenge on Israel, which has killed scores of militants in airstrikes during a 4-year-old Palestinian uprising.
Airstrikes ‘unite Palestinian people’
Some 10,000 Palestinian mourners earlier demanded revenge for the killing of senior Hamas commander Khaled Abu Selmiya, 33, in a missile strike that tore apart his car on Sunday.
“These crimes only unite the Palestinian people,” said Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas spokesman in Gaza.
Hamas, which has sworn to destroy the Jewish state, said Selmiya had been behind numerous suicide bombings. Israeli officials said he had also played a key role in making Qassams.
Militants fired a rocket on Monday at the southern Israeli town of Sderot, hitting a residential area but causing no casualties.
Troops shot and killed an unarmed Palestinian in the central Gaza Strip overnight, Israeli and Palestinian security sources said.
Underscoring the growing lawlessness in Palestinian areas, masked gunmen executed two Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel in the West Bank town of Tulkarem. One was machinegunned in a town square.
Palestinians have killed scores of their brethren accused of helping Israeli forces seek out and kill militants in fighting that began in September 2000. International human rights groups have condemned the vigilante killings.
