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Israeli strike kills two Hamas militants
GAZA CITY, Gaza (CNN) -- An Israeli helicopter gunship killed two militant members of the Palestinian group Hamas -- including a high-ranking commander -- as they drove through a refugee camp in central Gaza Saturday, Palestinian security officials said. In southern Gaza, a 9-year-old Palestinian girl on a bicycle was shot dead by Israeli forces as they exchanged fire with Palestinians in the Khan Younis refugee camp where she lived, Palestinian officials said. The girl, Alia Feyad, was near the Israeli settlement of Neve Dekalim, where the shots were fired, Palestinian witnesses reported. They said no one else was wounded. Early Sunday, an Israeli civilian -- traveling in a car -- was moderately injured by Palestinian gunfire near Gush Khatif, a block of Jewish settlements between Rafah and Khan Yunis, in southern Gaza, according to the Israel Defense Forces. At least nine people were reported wounded in Saturday's rocket attack, which happened about 4 p.m. As firefighters and rescue workers tried to evacuate people, crowds circled the burning vehicle chanting anti-Israeli slogans, according to CNN's Matthew Chance. He said Hamas vowed to avenge the killings. Israeli security sources identified the Palestinians who died as Abdallah Akel, 37, and Farid Mayet, 41, a military Hamas operative. Akel was commander of the Izzedine al-Qassam, the military wing of Hamas, in central Gaza. The Israeli sources described him as a key operative in weapons production, and said he was involved in a series of attacks in which Qassam rockets and mortar shells were fired toward Israeli towns. The men were believed to have been driving from the densely populated Bureij refugee camp to the Nusseirat camp.
The sources mention that this strike is part of the ongoing efforts by Israeli security forces to thwart the Hamas infrastructure in Gaza, with an emphasis on stopping the firing of Qassam rockets. During the past week 14 Qassam rockets, 69 mortar shells and 16 anti tank grenades were fired on Israeli targets, the sources said. The deaths bring to 10 the number of Palestinian Hamas militants killed in Israeli-targeted attacks in the last two weeks -- an Israeli campaign that was stepped up after the deadly August 19 bus bombing in Jerusalem. Israel considers the attacks "targeted killings" aimed at members of Hamas and other militant groups. Palestinians argue that the Israeli strikes keep them from bearing down on militants staging attacks on Israeli targets.
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