At least seven Palestinians were killed and more than 20 wounded late on Tuesday as Israeli F16 fighters and Apache helicopters attacked a residential area in Gaza City, Palestinian medical sources told AFP.
One of the dead was named as Saadi al-Arabit, a local leader of the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic radical movement Hamas, security sources said.
An aide was also killed, while women and children were among the 27 injured, six of whom were in critical condition, the sources said.
Hamas vowed after the attacks to ”quickly avenge the deaths”.
”Hamas will quickly avenge this attack, this assassination of one of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades in Gaza and also for the attacks on Baghdad,” one of the group’s senior political leaders, Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, told AFP, also referring to the US-British invasion of Iraq.
”If the Israelis continue, we will continue our resistance and we will take our revenge for this crime very soon,” Rantissi warned.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat also slammed the attack which saw Israeli F16 fighters and Apache combat helicopters fire missiles at a residential area.
”We condemn this crime by Israel which killed seven Palestinians and wounded 27, including children,” he told AFP by telephone.
”Israel is using the war in Iraq to escalate its aggression against the Palestinian people.” – Sapa-AFP