Israeli forces kill four Palestinians in Gaza

Gaza, Aug 3: Israeli forces killed four Palestinians in the southern Gaza Strip today, Palestinian witnesses said.

An airstrike killed one militant and wounded two others as gunmen confronted more than 50 Israeli tanks and armoured personnel carriers advancing near Rafah airport.

Islamic Jihad, a group dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish state that has killed scores of Israelis in suicide bombings, said the dead man was one of its members. One of the wounded men later died, witnesses said.

The Israeli army confirmed its forces were operating in southern Gaza and said the airstrike came after its troops were targeted with a rocket propelled grenade.

A second airstrike east of Rafah killed a member of the Hamas militant group and wounded another.

As the tanks pushed deeper into the eastern part of Rafah, Israeli gunfire killed a Palestinian civilian man and wounded two others, witnesses said. A missile that landed near a hospital in east Rafah wounded three civilians.

Israel has killed at least 158 Palestinians, more than half of them civilians, in Gaza since it began an offensive to stop gunmen from firing rockets into Israel and to pressure militants to free a soldier that armed groups captured on June 25.

Reuters

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