Four children killed in Gaza raid
28 Apr 2008
At least five people, including four young children, have been killed in an Israeli missile strike in northern Gaza, Palestinian medics have said.
Several others were wounded, including their mother, when the missile struck their house in the town of Beit Hanoun, not far from the border, they added.
The Israeli military said its aircraft had attacked a group of armed men threatening an army patrol in the area.
The area is often used by Palestinian militants to launch rockets at Israel.
Clashes between Israeli ground forces and Palestinian militants on Sunday in nearby Beit Lahiya left a 14-year-old girl dead and eight others injured.
On Friday, the Palestinian Islamist movement, Hamas, proposed a six-month "period of quiet" in Gaza, which it said could then be extended to the West Bank.
Israel dismissed the proposal as a ruse to allow Hamas to "re-arm and re-group".
Breakfast
Palestinian medics said the four young children killed in Monday's raid in Beith Hanoun were aged between 15 months and six years old.
Witnesses said a missile had smashed through the ceiling of the family's one-storey house while the family was having breakfast.
"They were eating and they were hit," a neighbour said.
The children's mother was among the three people said to be critically wounded. Another is believed be trapped under the rubble.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said the air force had attacked gunmen spotted near its forces during an operation in Gaza launched to "ensure that rocket crews, snipers and tunnel diggers are kept away from the border fence".
Hamas said one of its fighters had earlier shot an Israeli solder in Beit Hanoun. The Israeli military confirmed a soldier was slightly wounded.