Militant killed in Israeli missile strike in Gaza

GAZA, July 11 (Reuters) An Israeli aircraft today fired a missile at a vehicle in the Gaza Strip killing a Palestinian militant, witnesses said.

An Israeli spokeswoman had no immediate comment on the attack near the northern town of Beit Hanoun.

Several other people in the vehicle and in a nearby house were wounded in the air strike. The militant killed in the attack belonged to al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a group in President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction, local residents said.

Israel has been carrying out air and ground operations in the Gaza Strip since June 28, three days after militants abducted an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid.

Earlier in the day, an Israeli missile attack critically wounded two militants near Beit Hanoun and an Israeli aircraft destroyed a bridge in the area.

Israeli officials have said bridges have been targeted to hinder the movement of militants who launch daily rocket attacks against southern Israel.

Attacks by the Israeli military against Gaza infrastructure over the past two weeks has drawn international criticism.

Israeli leaders have said the Gaza operations were aimed at pressuring militants to return the soldier and to stop launching rockets.

Reuters SB RN1417