Israeli airstrikes kill 2 more in Gaza
A Palestinian boy walks through the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli air strike in Jabaliya. (March 12, 2012) Credit: AP
Israeli airstrikes killed two Palestinians in overnight raids on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, raising the death toll in three days of attacks to 17, as Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned that fighting may go on for "another day or two."
The Israeli air force attacked a squad of militants preparing to fire rockets, the army said yesterday. A boy, 13, and a member of the Popular Resistance Committee militant group were killed, Gaza health official Adham Abu Selmeya said.
The fighting that began Friday, the worst round of bloodshed since August, comes just days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned from Washington, where he said Israel must be free to protect itself from any threat.
"The current round with Gaza is far from resolution and we must remain vigilant and alert in the face of a potential terror attack from the Sinai," Barak said. "Realistically, it is impossible to assess it and it could continue for another day or two."
The bloodshed started with an Israeli airstrike on what the army said were two militants planning an attack from the Egyptian-controlled Sinai.
Militants based in Gaza have fired more than 90 rockets at Israel's southern towns since Friday, and Israel has hit about 15 targets in the seaside territory. Israel has been concerned about Sinai-originated violence since August, when eight people were killed in an attack near Eilat.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
