GAZA CITY (Agencies)
Two Hamas militants were killed and two others were wounded late on Thursday in an Israeli air strike near the town of Khan Yunis in the center of the Islamist-ruled Gaza Strip, as the Jewish state blamed the Palestinian Islamist group for a deadly explosion of violence that followed a month of relative calm.
The two dead were later named as cousins Muhamed and Amil Al Najaf, both members of Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades.
An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed an aircraft had fired at gunmen in the same area, one day after Gaza militants carried out a cross-border raid in which two Israelis and two Palestinians were killed.
Since Israel and the Palestinians formally revived peace talks in November, at least 382 people have been killed, most of them Gaza militants, according to an AFP tally.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, addressing supporters of his Kadima party, vowed Thursday to put an end to Palestinian attacks from the impoverished strip.
"Hamas today runs the Gaza Strip, and this organization and all its members bear responsibility for the incessant terror and it will have to bear the inevitable price for its actions," he told a rally in the town of Petah Tikva near Tel Aviv.
"I promise you that the response against Hamas will be such that Hamas will be no longer able to act against Israeli citizens," the premier said.
Within the same context, Israel’s deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai earlier vowed to "settle the score" with Hamas.
Hamas said such statements clearly showed that Israel was preparing the ground for a new military operation against Gaza, where a tense calm reigned on Thursday. |
