Two killed in Israeli Gaza strike

Israeli helicopters fired two missiles at a pickup truck in Gaza City today, killing two Palestinians and wounding five in the second air strike in less than three hours.

The identity of those killed was not immediately known.

Israeli radio reports said the men targeted were from the Islamic militant group Hamas. In the past three years, Israel has killed dozens of wanted Palestinian militants in targeted attacks.

The pickup had stopped at a traffic light near a petrol station, on a busy street crowded with schoolchildren, when the missiles hit the front of the vehicle.

Less than three hours earlier, Israeli warplanes had attacked a house under construction where the army says small rockets were being made.

The alleged weapons workshop was just 200 yards from the home of Islamic Jihad leader Abdullah Shami who was not hurt.