GAZA CITY, Gaza, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- As Hamas leaders met to form the next Palestinian government, Israel escalated military operations targeting Islamic activists in Gaza and the West Bank.
Israeli warplanes raided south Gaza Tuesday striking a car carrying two militants from Fatah's al-Aqsa Brigades, killing them instantly.
A spokesman for al-Aqsa Brigades said Mohammed Sharia, a leading field commander, and Suheil Baker, a militant, were killed in the raid. It was the second strike in Gaza Tuesday, bringing to nine the number of militants killed by Israeli forces in the past few days.
A member of Islamic Jihad was killed earlier by Israeli troops in the West Bank city of Nablus, hours after Israeli warplanes raided several parts of Gaza in retaliation for the firing of rockets at Israeli towns.
Palestinian security sources said heavy fighting erupted between Palestinian gunmen and Israeli troops who entered Nablus' Tafidia neighborhood at dawn Tuesday.
Witnesses said the troops, backed by eight military vehicles, encircled a one-storey deserted building on suspicion that wanted Palestinian gunmen were using it as a hideout.
Fighting ensued, during which Ahmed Radad, a leading militant in Islamic Jihad's Al-Quds Brigades, was killed, the sources said.
The air raid on Gaza injured two civilians, including a 15-year-old girl in Beit Lahya in north Gaza and a taxi driver in Jabalia camp.
Israel said its action was retaliation for a rocket attack on a kibbutz near Ashkelon, in south Israel, in which four Israelis were injured.
A joint statement for Islamic Jihad and Fatah's al-Aqsa Brigades claimed responsibility for firing rockets at an Israeli barracks near the crossing of Nahel Auz, east of Gaza City.
"The operation is part of our response to the crimes and assassinations of Palestinian activists," the statement said.
