8.18.2011

Gaza airstrikes follow Israeli attacks

Eight Israelis were killed in a string of attacks in the south of the country, prompting a series of Israeli air strikes targeting a Gaza group itwas responsible.Thursday's bloodshed, which killed six civilians, a soldier and a police officer, took place in the desert not far from the Red Sea resort town of Eilat, prompting a wave of international condemnation led by the White House.Within hours of the coordinated attacks, which saw gunmen ambush two buses and a car, detonate a bomb under a military jeep, and fireat another vehicle, Israeli troops had hunted down and killed seven of the attackers, a top military official
shortly afterwards, Israel took aim at the Gaza-based militant group it accused of responsibility for the attacks, launching air raids that killed six in the southern city of Rafah, medicsFour of the dead were top members of the Popular Resistance Committees, but one was a toddlerThe identity of the sixth was unclear
If terror organisations think they can harm our citizens and get away with it, they will soon learn how wrong they areIsraeli Prime Minister
We will make them pay a price, a very heavy price."The staged attacks began around noon, and continued into the evening, leaving eight people dead and at least 26 injured.Majorhead of the army's southern commandthe first attack saw three militants armed with explosives, guns and grenades open fire on a bus packed with passengers heading to Eilat.They fled the scene and shortly afterwards, detonated a roadside bomb which hit a military vehicle which was rushing to the scene of the first attack; they then managed to open fire on a second bus and a car, killing the bus driver.In another incident, a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at carsin the area, killing five.
It was not immediately clear where the soldier was killed but the police officer, who worked in an anti-terror unit, was killed during a gunbattle which erupted alongside the border during the early evening, security sourcesseven militants had been killed, but media reports suggested up to 20 may have been involved in the spate of attacks, some of whom were believed to have fled back into Sinai, but the military had no official comment on the number involved.two were shot dead during gunbattles in Israeli territory, while a third blew himself up.Four more were killed on the Egyptian side of the border - two shot dead by Israeli troops firing across the border, and another two shot by Egyptian forces,
 Egypt's official
two Egyptian policemen had been killed near the border with Gaza in what it described as an Israeli air strike.
But the Israeli army denied there had been any new airstrike in the Rafah area.
Israeli Defence Ministerthe "source" of the attacks was Gaza, and vowed "to act against them with all our strength and determination" although the strip's Hamas rulers issued a statement denying any involvement in the bloodshed
confirmed the air force had hit the Popular Resistance Committees, with the air force hitting several of its leaders whom the militarywere behind the coordinated attacks, which were launched with the "primary objective of kidnapping an Israeli civilian or soldier."confirmed its leader and several others had been killed in the strike, and vowed bitter revenge "against everything and everyone".

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