Gunman massacres five in Kibbutz raid

A Palestinian gunman ran amok in an Israeli kibbutz, killing five people, including two children.

Two hours later, Israeli helicopters fired rockets into a large metal workshop in downtown Gaza City, starting a large fire, witnesses said. The workshop was believed to be empty at the time of the attack, shortly before 2am (midnight Irish time).

The Israeli military has frequently targeted such workshops in the past, saying Palestinian militants use them to manufacture weapons.

In the shooting attack, the gunman entered Kibbutz Metzer, a collective farming community in northern Israel, just across the border from the West Bank, last night.

“There was shooting for close to 10 minutes then the security forces arrived and we’re shut inside the houses,” a member of the farm, identified only as Irit, told Israel radio.

Israeli security forces could not immediately locate the gunman, and it appeared he may have escaped from the farm, about 30 miles north east of Tel Aviv.

The Israeli rescue service, Magen David Adom, said at least five people were killed, including two children.

“Israelis in their own homes were brutally targeted by Palestinian terrorists,” David Baker, an official in prime minister Ariel Sharon’s office, said of the attack at the kibbutz.