Israeli air strike kills four in Gaza

An Israeli helicopter fired two missiles at a car believed to be carrying a senior Islamic militant in the Gaza Strip tonight, killing four people, witnesses said.

The strike was the first Israeli helicopter attack of its kind in more than two months.

Local residents said an Apache helicopter fired the missiles at a white Subaru driving between Gaza and the Jebaliya refugee camp.

The army confirmed the strike and said it had targeted a senior Islamic Jihad militant planning a deadly attack in the next few days.

Four people were killed in the attack and 10 were wounded, according to Faka Jamar, spokesman at the Shifa Hospital

The car was burned black, its windows shattered. Nearby buildings in the heavily populated neighbourhood were damaged.

Israel’s Channel 2 reported that the attack might be in response to dozens of mortars and rockets fired at Israeli towns and settlements in the past two days.

The last time Israel used a helicopter to kill Palestinian militants was October 20, when missiles killed 14 people, most of them bystanders, in the Nusseirat refugee camp. However, it was not a “targeted killing”, since the Israelis were chasing a car carrying Palestinians who had tried to infiltrate into Israel, according to the military.

During three years of violence, Israeli air strikes in Gaza have caused dozens of civilian casualties.

In April, an air attack killed Hamas leader Said Arabeed and eight other people. In July 2002, 15 people were killed, including nine children, in an air strike that targeted another Hamas leader, Salah Shehadeh.