Strike on Hamas camp kills 14

GAZA, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- At least 14 Palestinians were killed and more than 25 were injured around midnight Monday in an airstrike carried out by Israeli Apache helicopters in eastern Gaza City, Palestinian medics at Shiffa Hospital in Gaza City reported.

Palestinian witnesses and security sources said that Israeli Apache helicopters hovered over Gaza City and fired at least five missiles at a summer training camp belonging to Islamic resistance movement Hamas in the eastern neighborhood of Tufah in Gaza City.

"Allaho Akbar (God is great)," shouted dozens of people, who had rushed to the area hit and were carrying out on their shoulders remains of victims and wounded young men from the targeted area to put them into ambulances and local cars which took them to hospital. Hundreds of people gathered at the summer camp, watching ambulances and firefighters.

Palestinian security officials said that it was not clear whether missiles had been fired from Apache helicopters or surface-to-surface rockets had been fired from eastern Gaza at the summer training camp.

Baker Abu Safeya, chief of emergency at the hospital, said that 14 were killed and at least 25 injured. Nine of them were in critical condition.

The witnesses said that a summer camp was established on a playground two months ago and it is run and sponsored by the Islamic resistance movement Hamas. They said that when the airstrike was carried out, the camp was full of people.

The Ahmed Yassin playground belongs to the Hamas movement. Yassin was assassinated by Israelis in Gaza in April.

The Palestinian Authority condemned the Israeli strike at predawn on Tuesday.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told United Press International, "We strongly condemn this strike which is unjustified," adding, "Israel is using any available action to block any progress aimed at reviving the peace process."

"Such unjustified military action targeting innocent civilians needs urgent action from the Quartet Committee (the United States, Russia, United Nations and European Union) and the whole world to immediately implement the 'road map' plan for peace," said Erekat.

One member of the Quartet -- Russia -- had sent Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Jerusalem Monday to meet Israeli officials and discuss ways to fight "terror."

The Islamic resistance movement Hamas vowed on Tuesday to seek revenge.

Musheer al-Masri, a spokesman for Hamas movement in Gaza City, told reporters that the war between Israel and the movement would continue.

"They hit us and we hit them," said al-Masri, adding, "the blood of those killed ... encourages Hamas not to stop, but to continue fighting."

Al-Masri described the strike on the summer camp as "a massacre to be added to the massacres committed by the enemy against our people."

"This strike reflects the ugly face of our enemy (directed) against the Palestinian people," he said. ... (It) explains the crisis and the confusion in the (Israeli) government."

Hamas had claimed responsibility a week ago for carrying out a twin suicide bombing attack in the southern Israel town of Beer Sheva, in which 16 Israelis were killed in addition to the two suicide bombers from the West Bank town of Hebron.