Hamas vows to step up attacks

Published on 24/06/2012 02:52

THE Islamic militant Hamas group threatened to escalate fighting with Israel yesterday after Israeli airstrikes killed two gunmen in the Gaza Strip.

The strikes came after Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel wounded one person and damaged a school in the country’s south.

A military spokesman said “an urgent meeting” had been convened to discuss ways of dealing with a week of persistent Palestinian attacks.

Gaza militants fired over 30 rockets and mortar shells yesterday alone, bringing the week’s rocket tally to more than 150.

The military official gave no other details about the meeting.

The latest flare-up is the most serious in months. Over a million people in southern Israel live in range of the rockets and the Israeli military has advised them to make sure they can get to a bomb shelter quickly.

Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, vowed to escalate the fighting.

“If the last rounds were not enough to deliver the message… we are ready to crush the enemy and to curb its arrogance and to respond to aggression in a strong way,” the group said.

Yesterday morning, an Israeli airstrike killed a Palestinian militant as he rode his motorcycle in Gaza. Two other airstrikes wounded 17 Palestinians, including militants and civilians, and damaged several buildings used by Hamas, which rules the coastal territory.

The Israeli military said it hit “terror sites” and that it holds Hamas accountable for any attacks originating from the Gaza Strip.

Israeli airstrikes and Palestinian rocket attacks continued throughout the day. A second Gaza militant was killed later in the afternoon, Gaza health officials said. The Israeli military said it had “targeted a terrorist in the northern Gaza Strip while he was preparing to launch rockets at Israel”.