Five Palestinian children killed in Israeli rocket attack
At least five Palestinian children have died in an apparent Israeli rocket attack on a car in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
Palestinian officials have confirmed that the car belonged to Hussein Abu Kweik, a member of the Hamas movement. Mr Kweik was not in the car at the time of the attack, which left his nine-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son dead, along with three other children.
One adult was also killed and three were wounded, including Abu Kweik’s wife and a female relative.
A Hamas leader in Ramallah confirmed that Mr Kweik was active in the group, but he insisted that he was a member of the political wing and was not involved in any attacks on Israel.
The Israeli military made no comment. In the last 17 months of fighting, Israel has assassinated dozens of suspected Palestinian militants, including by firing missiles at their vehicles. Several innocent bystanders have also been killed in the attacks.
Elsewhere today, Israeli soldiers killed at least six Palestinians in separate incidents across the occupied Palestinian territories. Doctors said two gunmen and a civilian were killed in a gunbattle after Israeli troops invaded the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip, while seven others were injured.
At least two Palestinians were also killed in heavy fighting following a separate invasion of a refugee camp on the outskirts of the West Bank town of Jenin. Israeli tanks and soldiers entered the camp this morning, sparking a gunfight with local militants. In nearby Nablus, Israeli soldiers also shot and killed a Palestinian man who ran towards troops manning a roadblock.
This morning’s violence comes after senior Israeli cabinet ministers decided yesterday to step up their war against the Palestinians after a weekend of violence that left 21 Israelis and 12 Palestinians dead.
Earlier yesterday, Israeli cabinet secretary Gideon Saar said the Saudi Arabian peace proposal which has sparked interest throughout the world is unacceptable to the Israelis. He slammed a clause in the plan calling for Israel to withdraw to its 1967 borders, but said the cabinet made no formal decision on the initiative.
Under the Saudi plan, Israel would withdraw from all the Palestinian territories which it seized in 1967 in return for a complete normalisation of relations with the Arab world.
