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Gaza: Bomb kills 2 Palestinians, injures Israeli soldier

Dunya News

A statement from Hamas said those killed were members of its military wing.

An Israeli army officer was wounded and two Palestinians killed Tuesday in the latest flare-up of violence along the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip.A bomb seriously wounded an Israeli army officer on patrol along the border with the Gaza Strip, in an attack claimed by a leftist Palestinian group.Two subsequent Israeli air strikes on northern Gaza Strip killed two Palestinians and wounded seven more, said a spokesman a health ministry spokesman.A statement from Hamas, which controls Gaza, said those killed were members of its military wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades.An Israeli army spokesman said the air force had attacked two groups of Palestinians who were about to fire rockets into southern Israel.More than six rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip in three hours, the spokesman said.The air raid came hours the bomb that wounded the Israeli officer.Militants also fired four rockets from Gaza on southern Israel without causing any casualties or damage, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.A soldier was severely wounded during a routine patrol along the fence in the Kissufim area, a military spokeswoman said of the bombing which occurred shortly before 7:00 am (0500 GMT).The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed responsibility for laying an explosive device which wounded an officer in the Givati brigade, it said in a statement.Military officials were initially unsure what had caused the explosion, but eventually established it was an explosive device.Hamas security officials said the explosion occurred as troops were mounting an incursion into Gaza territory.The IDF (army) will not tolerate any attempt to harm Israeli civilians, and will operate against anyone who uses terror against the state of Israel, a military statement warned.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once again warned he would strike back at Gaza militants, which he said were supported by Tehran.Today we engaged in exchanges against terrorist aggression that comes from our southern border in Gaza, but it actually comes from Iran and a whole terror network that is supporting these attacks, said Netanyahu. The way to fight terror is to fight terror, and that we shall do with great force.Defence Minister Ehud Barak noted the explosive device was rigged to a gate on the fence, and said Israel takes the attack very seriously.The Israeli army will react to this in the right way and at the right time, he said during a tour outside Jerusalem of the Israeli-US missile defence exercise named Austere Challenge 12.The latest incidents on Tuesday came as the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, made a landmark visit to Gaza where he inaugurated a multi-million dollar project to rebuild the impoverished Palestinian territory.