Thursday, May 22, 2008

Israelis wound five children in Gaza Strip air strike

The Daily Star, May 22, 2008

By Agence France Presse (AFP)

Israelis wound five children in Gaza Strip air strike

GAZA CITY: Five Palestinian children were wounded in an Israeli air strike on the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, Palestinian health officials and witnesses said. The Israeli aircraft targeted a vehicle carrying militants but instead hit a car carrying the five children, witnesses said.

None of the five - two babies less than a year old and children aged five, 12 and 14 - was seriously hurt, the Palestinian emergency services said.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said the air force had "attacked a vehicle that was driven by terrorists who had just fired rockets in the direction of Israel." She added that "if some children were injured, we only regret that Hamas fires rockets from residential areas."

Israeli forces conduct almost daily raids in Gaza. They have also imposed a blockade on the territory since Hamas seized control last June in what they say is an attempt to pressure the Islamist movement to stop rocket or mortar attacks on Israel.

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