Israeli raids kill 3 Gazans, fighting flares

JERUSALEM

Palestinians carry the body of Bahajat Zaalan, 42, killed in an Israeli air strike. AP photo

Violence has flared up between Israel and Gaza, with the Israeli air force killing three Palestinians and militants firing rockets deep across the border.

The latest fighting erupted on Nov. 8 when an air strike on a car killed two militants, one of them from Gaza’s governing Islamist group Hamas, whom Israel accused of planning to send gunmen to attack it through the neighboring Sinai region of Egypt.

Palestinian militants answered Thursday’s air strike with a barrage of rockets, some of which landed near Beersheba, a city 35 kilometers from Gaza. No one was hurt. Air-raid sirens summoned residents of southern Israel to shelters. Another Israeli air strike followed before dawn on Dec. 9, hitting a Hamas training camp in Gaza City. The blast flattened a nearby home, killing its owner and wounding his wife and six of their children, two critically, hospital officials said. In a statement voicing regret for the civilian casualties, the military said Palestinian rockets stored next to the camp had stoked the explosion. Hamas accused Israel of a “massacre”.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Foreign Ministry has condemned Israel for granting permission to the construction of new Jewish settlements in east Jerusalem. In a written statement released Dec. 8, the ministry strongly condemned the decision to erect 650 new buildings in east Jerusalem, as well as its decision to extend legal recognition to 119 other buildings in the West Bank. The Foreign Ministry called on Israel to fulfill its obligations stemming from international laws for peace in the Middle East and to refrain from activities – such as building settlements – that would damage efforts for peace. The United States also expressed disappointment over Israel’s new settlement activity.

Compiled from Reuters and AA stories by the Daily News staff