2 Killed in Attacks by Israel on Gaza Camp

Two people were killed and 15 injured in Israeli missile strikes on the Jabaliya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Sunday.

In the first attack, an Israeli aircraft fired a missile at a home near a Hamas stronghold, killing one civilian and wounding eight, including a young girl, hospital officials said.

It was not clear why the army targeted the house, which was not far from the Kholfa Mosque, a Hamas power base. The army did not comment.

In the later strike, an Israeli aircraft fired a missile at Palestinian gunmen, killing one and wounding seven.

Palestinian security officials said the target of the strike was a group of gunmen organizing to attack Israeli forces. They identified the dead man as a 20-year-old member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a militant group with ties to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement.

Israeli military sources said the airstrike was aimed at Palestinians planting a bomb.

Large numbers of Israeli troops and tanks have been operating in northern Gaza for nearly two weeks, trying to stop militants from firing rockets at nearby Israeli towns. Since the beginning of the operation, 97 Palestinians have been killed. Almost half were civilians, and 18 were age 16 or younger, Palestinian officials said.