Palestinians Killed in Israeli Raid

22 February, 2008

Gaza-An Israeli air attack has killed two Palestinians and wounded a third in the central Gaza Strip.

Palestinian medical sources and witnesses said Israel launched at least one missile during the attack near Bureij early on Friday morning.

The attack killed two 20-year-old members of the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, Ayman Abu Said and Mohammed al-Hazin, the medics said.

Officials from Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, confirmed the men were members of Islamic Jihad, who had been on foot close to the fence with Israel.

An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed an air assault had been carried out.

Israel frequently launches missiles on the Gaza Strip in what it says is an effort to stop armed groups fighting the Israeli occupation from launching rockets into southern Israeli towns and planting bombs along the border that target its soldiers.

Friday's attack brings to 6,151 the number of people killed since the start of the second Palestinian uprising in 2000, the vast majority of them Palestinians, according to an AFP tally.