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4 Palestinians Die in Blast From Ordnance Found in Gaza War’s Rubble 4 Palestinians Die in Blast From Ordnance Found in Gaza War’s Rubble
(about 3 hours later)
GAZA CITY — Four Palestinians from the same extended family were killed and around 30 others were wounded on Thursday, after ordnance exploded in Gaza as residents cleared rubble from the war with Israel last summer. GAZA CITY — Four Palestinians from one extended family were killed and more than 40 others were wounded on Thursday after military ordnance exploded in Gaza as residents cleared the rubble of their homes a year after the war with Israel.
The death toll made it one of the deadliest episodes since the 50-day conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza. It was not immediately clear whether the ordnance was left behind by Israeli or Palestinian forces. The toll made it the deadliest explosion to rock Gaza since the 50-day conflict last summer between Israel and Palestinian militants, officials from local human rights organizations said. It was not immediately clear whether the ordnance was left by Israeli or Palestinian forces.
The explosion in a crowded refugee camp in the southern Gaza city of Rafah occurred when the Abu Naqeira family was clearing the ruins of its home, which was a target during the conflict, according to the Palestinian news agency Maan. Also Thursday, a driver in the West Bank plowed his car into pedestrians at a bus stop near a Jewish settlement, seriously wounding two Israeli soldiers, who were airlifted to a Jerusalem hospital, Israeli Army radio reported. Soldiers quickly shot the driver, believed to be Palestinian, who was also in serious condition, the radio reported.
The four men killed in the blast were all from the Abu Naqeira family, including a father and his son, residents said. The explosion shook neighborhoods in Rafah and damaged or destroyed at least 10 surrounding houses, said Hani al-Shaer, who said he was a witness. No Palestinian groups claimed responsibility for the attack, although the militant group Hamas praised it. It may have been another so-called lone-wolf attack, in which individual Palestinians, without any leadership or planning, attack Israeli soldiers and civilians with their cars, knives or guns.
Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman for Gaza’s Health Ministry, said the death toll was likely to rise, citing the serious injuries that some had sustained. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel commended the Israeli soldiers for their quick response and called on world leaders to condemn the attack. It was a pointed reference to an arson attack on Friday that killed a Palestinian baby in the West Bank, which was swiftly condemned in Israel and worldwide.
It was not immediately clear if the family knew that there was unexploded ordnance in the rubble, or if any specialists were supervising the clearing. The car attack was the latest episode of violence in a summer marked by them.
One resident living nearby reported hearing a series of explosions, and he said that the blasts might have been caused by rockets stored by Hamas militants. He gave his name as Abu Khalil, fearing to be identified as criticizing the militant group. The explosion in Gaza occurred in a crowded refugee camp in the southern city of Rafah. The Abu Naqeira family was clearing the ruins of its home in the Shaboura neighborhood, said a relative, Rabi Abu Naqeira, 26, a local journalist. Contractors had been clearing away heavy rubble in the neighborhood for two or three days for residents hoping to rebuild their homes, he said.
“People thought the bombs had exploded already, when they were being shelled,” he said.
The four men killed in the blast were all from the Abu Naqeira family — the journalist’s uncle, two cousins and his brother-in-law. One of the dead, Abdul-Rahman Abu Naqeira, was a Hamas fighter, said a spokesman for the group’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades. The spokesman said Mr. Abu Naqeira was killed in an “accidental explosion.”
Ashraf al-Qedra, a spokesman for Gaza’s Health Ministry, said the death toll was likely to rise, citing the injuries of some of the wounded. He said 43 people were wounded, eight seriously.
People nearby reported hearing a series of explosions that shook adjacent neighborhoods, damaging or destroying at least 10 homes.
The blast terrified children, who thought a new war had begun, said Anees Mansour, a Rafah resident who works for pro-Palestinian organizations.
“The children tried to find somewhere safe to hide — me,” said Mr. Mansour, speaking of his sister’s children, who were with him when they heard the explosion, nearly a mile away. “They held me — one to my T-shirt, another to my jeans.”
Another person living nearby reported hearing a series of explosions and seeing a large plume of smoke and wounded children. The resident, who gave his name as Abu Khalil, fearing to be identified as criticizing Hamas, said the ordnance might have been rockets stored by the group’s militants.
Iyad al-Buzum, a spokesman with the Gaza Interior Ministry, said in a Facebook post that the Hamas government had begun an investigation into the explosions.
Last year, six people, including an Associated Press video journalist and a Palestinian interpreter, were killed when Gaza police engineers tried to defuse unexploded Israeli ordnance.Last year, six people, including an Associated Press video journalist and a Palestinian interpreter, were killed when Gaza police engineers tried to defuse unexploded Israeli ordnance.