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Gaza city: Israeli air strike kills Palestinian militant | Gaza city: Israeli air strike kills Palestinian militant |
(about 1 hour later) | |
A Palestinian militant has been killed in an Israeli air strike on Gaza City. | A Palestinian militant has been killed in an Israeli air strike on Gaza City. |
Haytham al-Misshal was hit while riding a motorcycle. Two other people were injured, Palestinian sources said. | |
Hamas officials said Misshal, 29, belonged to a Salafist jihadist group. | |
Israel said Misshal was involved in a rocket attack on its city of Eilat. | |
It is the first deadly air strike on Gaza since a ceasefire between Israel and militants there in November. | It is the first deadly air strike on Gaza since a ceasefire between Israel and militants there in November. |
The incident comes after a rise in violence across the Israeli-Gaza border in recent days. Militants have fired several rockets across the border into Israel and Israel has carried out air strikes, with neither causing injuries. | The incident comes after a rise in violence across the Israeli-Gaza border in recent days. Militants have fired several rockets across the border into Israel and Israel has carried out air strikes, with neither causing injuries. |
A spokesman for Hamas, which governs Gaza, said it considered the air strike and the killing of Misshal as "a serious violation of the ceasefire". | |
An Israeli government official said the ceasefire was "based on mutual quiet. Attacks on Israel from Gaza are a breach of the ceasefire and Israel cannot be expected not to act". | |
The Israel Defence Forces said Misshal was a weapons expert who made rockets and bombs for different militant groups. | |
It said Misshal was involved in "extensive terror activity against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers", including the attack on Eilat. | It said Misshal was involved in "extensive terror activity against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers", including the attack on Eilat. |
In that incident, two rockets fired from the Egyptian Sinai by Gaza-based militants hit Eilat, a popular tourist destination on Israel's southern Red Sea coast. | |
The rockets landed in open areas, without causing damage or injury. | |
In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "Today we took down one of those involved in the criminal act of firing rockets against the town of Eilat. I had said that we would not sit quietly while this happened, and this is a clear result of our policy." | |
Israel and militants in Gaza fought an eight-day war in November, which ended with both sides agreeing to desist from air strikes and rocket attacks. | |
The truce has largely upheld since then, despite several incidents of cross-border fire. |