Israeli strike hits southern Gaza

Israel Materials 27 January 2009 19:56 (UTC +04:00)

Israel has carried out an air strike in Gaza, hours after a bomb attack killed one Israeli soldier and wounded three others near the Gaza border, BBC reported.

The air strike in southern Gaza wounded two people, including a Hamas militant, Palestinian sources say.

It was Israel's first air strike since it ended its offensive against Hamas and both sides called a ceasefire.

Israeli troops also entered the Gaza Strip after the bomb attack, killing one Palestinian, medics said.

No group has said it carried out Tuesday's bombing on an Israeli patrol near the border crossing of Kissufim.

One Israeli officer was badly wounded in the explosion and the other soldiers were lightly wounded, an army spokesman said.

Palestinian residents of Kissufim said they could hear Israeli helicopters circling overhead and the sound of heavy gunfire.

Medics in Gaza said a Palestinian farmer was killed by gunfire.

Two people were wounded in the subsequent air strike in the town of Khan Younis near Rafah.

Hospital sources say one was a member of Hamas' Popular Resistance Committee who was on a motorbike at the time, and the other was a passer-by.

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