By Xinhua,
Gaza : Eight Palestinians killed and more than 40 wounded Thursday in a daylong of violence between the Israeli army and militant groups in the Gaza Strip, medics, Hamas and witnesses said.
Mo’aweya Hassanein, chief of emergency service in the Palestinian health ministry rounded up to reporters the death toll saying eight people were killed and 45 wounded in northern and southern Gaza Strip.
An Islamic Hamas militant was killed and two wounded in a fresh Israeli airstrike on a group of Hamas militants east of Khoza’a village east of the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza Strip, Hamas armed wing said in a statement.
Earlier on Thursday, four Palestinians were killed and 40 wounded in a mysterious explosion in a 4-story building in the village of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza Strip.
The Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, and the interior ministry in Gaza said that Israeli warplanes hit the building by one missile killing four people, including two Hamas militants and two civilians and wounded 40 others.
An Israeli Army spokesman denied if any Israeli warplane was involved in any airstrike carried out on the area in northern Gaza Strip, saying that it was a work accident and the Israeli army has nothing to do with it.
In response, Hamas armed wing al-Qassam Brigades fired a barrage of 50 mortar shells and homemade rockets at Israeli communities surrounding the border between Gaza Strip and Israel, injuring two Israelis.
However, Abu Obeida, al-Qassam Brigades spokesman told reporters that his group opened an inquiry to investigate the circumstances of the explosion, saying “we will announce the results as soon the investigations are finalized.”
Earlier on Thursday morning two militants were killed in a gunbattle with Israeli soldiers that lasted for nearly one hour near the border between the northern tip of the Gaza Strip and Israel.
One militant is affiliated with moderate President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah movement, the other is a member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
The Israeli army had also said that a Palestinian militant who approached the fence of the border between northeastern Gaza Strip and Israel was shot dead. The militant’s body is still kept by the Israeli army.
Moreover, the Israeli army said that Israeli soldiers thwarted an attempt to drive a booby-trapped vehicle from northern Gaza Strip into an Israeli territory to blow it up against soldiers.
The escalation of violence between Israel and Gaza militant groups came one day after the Israeli minor cabinet decided to give the Egyptian efforts a chance to reach a truce between Israel and Gaza militants led by Hamas movement.
In parallel, the Israeli cabinet asked the Israeli army to be prepared for a large-scale operation into the Gaza Strip in case the Egyptian efforts to reach a temporary truce are failed.
On Thursday, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum accused Israel for obstructing the efforts to reach a truce, adding that Hamas patience “would run out soon if Israel continues with its offensive against Gaza.”
“Israel is dealing in double policy with truce efforts in order to gain more enough time to prepare for its large-scale aggression on the Gaza Strip,” Barhoum told reporters in Gaza.