Israeli missile strikes kill two

An Israeli aircraft fired a missile at a group of gunmen in the Jebaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza after nightfall last night, killing one and wounding seven, in the second air strike of the day as a large-scale military operation continued.

Palestinian security officials said the target of the missile strike was a group of gunmen organising to attack Israeli forces and identified the dead man as a 20-year-old activist of the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a violent group with ties to Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement.

The Israeli army said the air strike was aimed at Palestinians attempting to set off some kind of explosive device.

Large numbers of Israeli troops and tanks have been operating in northern Gaza for nearly two weeks, trying to stop militants from firing rockets at Israeli towns just outside Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has pledged to withdraw from the Gaza Strip next year but he faces stiff opposition from the far-right opposition and from rebels within his own party.

Parliament reconvenes from its summer recess today for a session expected to be stormy and which media commentators predict could see Sharon’s minority government forced from office.

The main opposition Labour party has so far backed Sharon on key house votes over his pullout plan but Labour’s Dalia Itzik said Sunday evening the party’s continued support should not be taken for granted.

“There is no longer an automatic safety net,” she told Channel Two television.

Earlier yesterday, Israeli aircraft fired a missile at a home near a Hamas stronghold in the Jebaliya refugee camp, killing one civilian and wounding eight other Palestinians, hospital officials said.

It was not clear why the army targeted the house – not far from the Kholfa Mosque, a Hamas power base. The army did not comment.

The strike killed a 38-year-old Palestinian civilian and seriously wounded eight other Palestinians, including a girl, hospital officials said. It also caused extensive damage to homes and stores nearby, witnesses said.