Israeli attacks kill 13 Gazans

Hamas policemen inspect the wrecage of a vehicle after it was attacked by an Israeli airstrike on the Gaza Strip on March 9, 2012.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/230881.html

At least 13 Palestinians have been killed and many more wounded in Israeli aerial and land attacks on the besieged Gaza Strip, Press TV reports.

In the first attack, missiles fired from an Israeli drone struck a car in the Tel El-Hawa neighborhood, west of Gaza City, killing both its passengers and severely injuring another person on Friday.

The Israeli army has confirmed the attack, saying it was a targeted assassination.

An Israeli military spokesman said that Zohair al-Qaisi, the leader of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), and PRC member Mahmoud Hanini were killed in the attack, adding that Israeli officials ordered the assassination because they had allegedly received reports that al-Qaisi was planning attacks against Israeli targets.

Hanini had been freed from an Israeli jail last year as part of a prisoner swap deal to gain the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

Islamic Jihad of Palestine said in a statement issued on Friday that Obeid al-Gharabli, Mohammed Harara, Hazem Qoureqa, and Shadi Seqali of the al-Quds Brigades, the military arm of Islamic Jihad, were killed in a second airstrike on the east side of the city.

Palestinian security officials said that a third airstrike on Zeitoun, east of the city, caused no casualties.

In addition, at least four other Palestinians were killed and over 20 injured by Israeli tanks, which pounded areas in the west and north of the besieged coastal enclave.

Three other Palestinians were also killed in additional airstrikes across Gaza.

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has condemned the attacks, describing them as barbaric.

Israeli war planes and ground forces have frequently attacked Gaza since the end of the December 2008-January 2009 war on the people of the Gaza Strip. Most victims of the attacks are civilians, including women and children