Israeli missile strike kills six Hamas gunmen

Gaza, Aug 21: An Israeli missile strike killed six Hamas gunmen and wounded another in the Gaza Strip today, Palestinian hospital staff said.

The Israeli army confirmed it had fired at the vehicle carrying the militants.

''There was a strike on a car carrying militants who today fired rockets into Israel and we identified hitting it,'' an army spokeswoman said.

Hamas denied the dead gunmen had fired rockets. It has not claimed any rocket attacks on Israel since its violent takeover of the Gaza Strip from the rival Fatah group in June, although it has fired mortar shells.

Other militant groups have continued to launch many rockets across the border into nearby Israeli towns and agricultural communities causing damage, a few injuries and deaths, great panic among civilians and a disruption of daily life.

In a second strike today, a militant from the Islamic Jihad group was wounded by an Israeli missile after a launching crew fired a rocket at Israel, militants and Palestinian medical workers said.

An Israeli army spokesman said over 40 makeshift rockets had been fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip since Friday.

Hamas identified all six dead as members of their Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades military wing. It said their vehicle was hit as it arrived at a Hamas security post near the al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.

One of the dead was named as local Hamas commander Mohammed abu Arab. A Hamas spokesman described Israel's action as an ''ugly Zionist massacre'' and said ''all options were open'' for a response.

''The Zionist enemy (Israel) is playing with fire and they will have to shoulder the responsibility for the consequences of this crime,'' Izz el-Deen al-Qassam spokesman Abu Ubaida said.

Asked whether Hamas would resume firing rockets into Israel, Abu Ubaida added: ''If the Zionist enemy fears the possibility of a response with rockets then they should know that we have even more dangerous weapons.'' He did not elaborate.

Reuters>