By Xinhua,
Gaza : A Palestinian girl was killed and five people were wounded early Saturday by Israeli fire in northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya, emergency officials said.
The 14-year-old girl, Mariam Tal’at Ma’rouf, was killed when shells directly hit her family house, witnesses said. According to paramedics, her body was found thrown down near the house.
After midnight, Israeli special forces entered al-Da’our neighborhood, about 1.5 kilometers to the south of the security fence and surrounded Mariam’s father house. The soldiers, backed with tanks and air cover, fired at the house.
Later, clashes erupted between the Israeli forces and members of armed Palestinian groups until the Israeli soldiers succeeded to arrest the father. Sources close to Hamas said the father was a member of the Islamic movement.
The mother and two members of the family were injured with at least one suffered serious wounds, the paramedics said. The other two casualties were gunmen.
The escalation in the Hamas-ruled Gaza comes as the Israeli government rejected Friday the ceasefire offers that Hamas signaled through Egyptian mediators.
But Israel has not yet officially told the Egyptian mediators about its stance regarding Hamas proposal for six-month ceasefire taking place in Gaza.