Israeli raid targets Gaza fighters
14/01/2008| IslamWeb
Two Palestinian fighters have been killed in an Israeli missile attack in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army said.
An Israeli army spokesman said the strike was carried out on Sunday in co-operation with Israel's security service, Shin Bet, on a car carrying two men.
The spokesman said: "One of the men was responsible for firing rockets into Israel and another was involved in actions against Israelis."
Palestinian hospital officials said a third man was critically wounded by the missile, which exploded near the home of Ismail Haniya, the Hamas government prime minister, in the Shali refugee camp near the Gaza City shoreline.
Ahmed al-Mazloun, Islamic Jihad's spokesman, known as Khattab al-Maqdiffi, was critically wounded, the hospital officials said.
The second dead man was identified as Nidal al-Amoudi of al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an offshoot of the Fatah faction, headed by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president.
'Targeted killing'
Israeli security sources described the attack as a "targeted killing", which is designed to assassinate enemy operatives, not thwart an imminent attack.
Israel said one of the dead men was Maher al-Mabhouh, a senior member of the Islamic Jihad group, which was involved in the abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in Gaza in June 2006.
The Islamic Jihad group were also responsible for the kidnapping of BBC journalist Alan Johnston last year.
Shalit is still being held, Johnston was released last year by his captors after being held for several months.
Gaza deaths
Yuval Diskin, Shin Bet's security chief, said that Israeli security forces had killed 810 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in 2006 and 2007, in Jerusalem on Sunday.
Diskin said that some 200 of those killed were not clearly linked to “terrorist organizations”.
Haaretz, the Israeli daily, however, calculated that 360 were civilians who were not affiliated with any armed organizations.
B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization, said that of those killed, 152 were minors, including 48 under the age of 14.
More meetings
In other news, peace negotiators will begin talks on the core issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Monday, Abbas said late on Sunday.
In a speech in the West Bank town of Ramallah before the central committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s parliament, Abbas said Ahmed Qurei, a former Palestinian prime minister, and Tzipi Livni, the Israeli foreign minister, "will begin final status negotiations on Monday".
A senior aide to Livni confirmed the talks will be held in Jerusalem on Monday "as part of the ongoing meetings between the two sides".
Palestinians inspect the wreck of a car after an Israeli air strike in Gaza City. [AFP]