Israeli Missile Kills 2 Civilians in Gaza Strip

An errant Israeli missile killed two Palestinian civilians in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday as Israel defended its airstrikes against militants after an assault that left three children dead a day earlier.

In the latest incident, Palestinian officials said, a woman and a man died when an Israeli missile struck a house at the entrance to the town of Khan Yunis. At least 13 others, including three children, were injured.

Israeli officials said an aircraft fired two missiles at a car that was believed to be carrying members of the Popular Resistance Committees, a group that has frequently launched Kassam rockets into southern Israel. One missile hit the road and the other struck the house, according to Israeli and Palestinian sources.

Hospital officials identified the dead as Zakaria Ahmed, 45, visiting from Saudi Arabia; and his sister, Fatima, 37. The family’s house was heavily damaged.

“Today we just missed the target, unfortunately,” said Capt. Noa Meir, an Israeli army spokeswoman. “This was another unfortunate result of this kind of war.”

Meir said Israel’s military sought to avoid civilian casualties. Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, the army’s chief of staff, ordered an investigation into what went wrong in the recent airstrikes.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas issued a statement condemning the latest airstrike.

Wednesday’s attack came as mourners joined a funeral procession near Gaza City for three Palestinian children, ages 16, 7 and 5, who died Tuesday night after Israel fired missiles at a car carrying members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade. During the procession, militants fired guns into the air and mourners shouted calls for retaliation.

“This is really a crime,” said Jamal Roka, whose son Mohammed, 5, was killed. “What is the fault of my son? Does he carry Kassam rockets? He was playing in front of my house.”

Israeli military officials said no civilians were visible when missiles were fired Tuesday near Jabaliya, north of Gaza City. The militants, who military sources said had fired Kassam rockets earlier in the day, survived the attack. The explosion injured more than a dozen other people.

The fatal strikes, a week after an Israeli air attack killed 11 people, including nine civilians, drew condemnation from human rights activists. Amnesty International called for a United Nations probe.

The incidents also stoked debate among Israelis over the best way to stop militants from firing Kassams into southern Israeli towns such as Sderot.

Although the rockets rarely cause injury, Sderot officials and residents say the attacks have made life intolerable, and they have accused Israeli leaders of doing too little to help them.

“I think the government should be given the moral right to drop the gloves and get down to work,” Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal told Israel Radio.

But there appear to be no easy answers to the Kassams, more than 150 of which have been fired into Israel this month. The army reported that three more were launched into southern Israel on Wednesday.

Besides periodic airstrikes targeting Palestinian rocket-launching squads or their commanders, Israel in recent months has routinely shelled areas of the northern Gaza Strip used as firing bases.

Palestinian officials believe Israeli artillery fire caused an explosion that killed eight civilians on a Gaza beach June 9, though Israel’s military said an internal investigation showed it was not responsible. Rights groups have called for an independent probe.

Yet analysts say wider military actions, such as an intensified air campaign or sending troops into the Gaza Strip less than a year after Israel’s withdrawal, carry risks of even greater casualties on both sides.

“It’s a big problem. We have a moral problem on the one hand and a practical problem on the other,” said Asher Levy, a retired brigadier general with the nonpartisan Council for Peace and Security, an Israeli think tank.

Levy said Israel’s options were limited. For example, Israel could cut water or electricity to the Gaza Strip in retribution for each rocket attack, Levy said, but would probably draw sharp international criticism.

“I don’t see any immediate solution,” he said. “It seems to me it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

The Yediot Aharonot newspaper reported that military officials were considering stepped-up actions against the Kassams, such as ground operations and possible strikes against leaders of Palestinian militant groups, including officials of the ruling Hamas movement. The newspaper listed Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar, both members of Hamas, among potential targets.

Arab members of the Israeli parliament harshly criticized Tuesday’s airstrike, with one calling for the resignation of Defense Minister Amir Peretz. Other commentators questioned Israel’s approach to the Kassam salvos, including the practice of firing missiles into densely populated areas.

“The question must be asked if the decision to attack in the heart of the Jabaliya refugee camp, the most crowded place in the world, was correct from the outset,” wrote Amir Rappaport, military affairs correspondent for the Maariv newspaper.

Still, officials defended Israeli tactics as appropriate in the face of the cross-border rocket attacks, which have caused at least half a dozen deaths since 2004.

“There are situations in which you must take a chance with interception, or else wake up when a Kassam hits a kindergarten.... This is the defense minister’s dilemma,” Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told Israel Radio. “It must be remembered that this is a war.”

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Times special correspondent Tamer Misshal in Khan Yunis contributed to this report.