Palestinians say 2 Gaza children killed in overnight Israeli strikes
Medical sources in Hamas-run Strip say brother and sister, 10 and 6, die after bombing; family lives near Hamas base targeted by IDF after rockets were fired into Israel
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A 6-year-old girl who was critically injured in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip Friday night died of her wounds Saturday, officials in the Hamas-run enclave said. Earlier it was reported that her 10-year-old brother was killed in the bombing.
The Israeli strike had come in retaliation to rocket-fire at the southern town of Sderot on Friday. The IDF said it struck four Hamas targets in northern Gaza, with Palestinian sources saying the bombings occurred near the town of Beit Lahiya.
AFP reported that the victims’ home was located near one of the Hamas centers. Reuters said the home was hit by debris from a missile explosion nearby.
The Israeli army did not comment on the reports of the deaths, but said its air strikes were directed at Hamas terror infrastructure.
Reuters quoted IDF spokesman Peter Lerner saying the rocket fire from Gaza into Israel was an effort by terrorists to “threaten the security and safety of the people of southern Israel. The (military) will continue to act to protect against those who threaten innocent lives and Israel’s sovereignty,” he said.
Hamas’s Health Ministry said 10-year-old Yassin Sleiman Abu Khussa was killed. His 6-year-old sister Isaa and 13-year-old brother were injured in the airstrikes, with Isaa later dying of her wounds.
On Saturday afternoon, hundreds of people attended Yassin’s funeral.
At least four rockets launched from Gaza landed in an open field near Sderot on Friday night. All four rockets fell in open areas.
Rocket sirens sounded in the Sha’ar Hanegev area and in Sderot ahead of the projectiles’ fall.
No organization claimed responsibility for the launch, which came at around the same time as a shooting attack in the West Bank that left two IDF soldiers lightly hurt.
Earlier Friday evening, Hamas hacked into the private satellite feed of Israel’s Channel 2, interrupting broadcasts with a video promising its “terror will never end.” The rockets were fired soon after.
Israel has said in the past that it holds the Gaza-based Hamas terrorist group, which rules the Strip, as responsible for any attacks initiated from within the Palestinian coastal enclave.
The Times of Israel Community.