Latest attack critically wounds 2 Islamic Jihad men; on Wednesday, army reportedly kills gunman.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFIDF dog 224.88(photo credit: AP)
IAF aircraft fired missiles at a car and men on foot in two strikes in northern Gaza on Thursday, wounding four Palestinians, two of them critically.
The missiles struck near Jabalya. The critically wounded men were members of Islamic Jihad, security officials said.
The IDF said the missiles targeted a rocket launching squad.
On Wednesday, a gunman was killed and at least 14 Palestinians - one of them a civilian - were wounded in fighting with IDF troops in Gaza, according to witnesses and medical officials.
The army said ground forces withdrew from the Gaza Strip late Wednesday.
Palestinian witnesses said 25 tanks and armored bulldozers entered Abassan, east of Khan Yunis, setting off clashes with local gunmen.
The IAF carried out at least four air strikes, including one attack on a group of Palestinians who were using abandoned houses for cover, witnesses said. An Islamic Jihad gunman was killed and another group member was wounded, said Dr. Moaiya Hassanain of the Palestinian Health Ministry.
An earlier strike wounded six Hamas members. Three of the men were in critical condition, Hassanain said.
Before the air strike, said Sami al-Najar, a resident of the area, the gunmen were standing near a house and fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a tank.
He said some of the wounded were in the house and others were taken away in a private car that came under fire from the IDF troops. He also claimed the army fired at ambulances that came to the scene.
The IDF said it carried out two air strikes targeting gunmen near the troops.
Seven other Palestinians, all gunmen except for one civilian, were wounded in two other air strikes, medical officials said.
The army said the operation was aimed at terrorists in southern Gaza, and confirmed hitting a group of gunmen in an earlier air strike.
