A wounded man is wheeled into a hospital in southern Gaza,after an Israeli missile-strike on June 1.(Reuters/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)

June 1, 2012

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli airstrikes wounded four Palestinians in the southern Gaza Strip early Friday, hours after an Israeli soldier and Palestinian militant were killed in an exchange of fire along the border.

Witnesses said Israeli aircraft bombed an auto rickshaw east of Khan Younis. Medical spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya said four people were wounded, and two were in a critical condition.

An Israeli army spokeswoman told Ma'an that aircraft targeted what she described as a terrorist squad that had fired a rocket at Israeli soldiers. She said a hit was confirmed.

The official added that the Israeli military would continue to operate "against anyone who uses terror against the residents of the State of Israel. The Hamas terrorist organization is responsible for any terrorist activity emanating from the Gaza Strip."

Earlier, a Palestinian gunman breached the southern Gaza border and opened fire on Israeli soldiers, who returned fire, the Israeli army said. A soldier, identified by the army as 21-year-old Netanel Moshiashvili, and the Palestinian were killed.

A Gaza radio station close to Islamic Jihad named the man killed as 22-year-old Ahmad Abu Naser. It said the group's armed wing had claimed responsibility for the attack.

But a spokesman for the Al-Quds Brigades, Abu Ahmad, denied any involvement in the attack.

The body of Abu Naser was transferred to Gaza on Friday by Israeli authorities, a Ma'an correspondent said.

Palestinian sources in the Gaza Strip told Ma'an that the attack appeared to have been aimed at luring Israeli forces into the area in an attempt to capture a soldier.


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