GAZA CITY, Gaza, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- An Israeli gun-ship attack on a Gaza beach killed four members of the terrorist group Hamas, according to eyewitnesses Monday.
The gun-ship attack came shortly after mortars were fired at a Jewish settlement.
Two dead were identified as Wahid al Hams and Ahmed Aishtawi, members of Ezzedine al-Qassam, the military wing of Hamas.
Sunday's attack was the second such attack on Hamas officials, and brought the death toll to seven and more than 20 civilians injured.
Cab driver Raja'ei Abu Ghalyoon told UPI the attacks, "would kill any chance for peace in the future and would bring us again back to the beginning,"
The attack by an Israeli helicopter gunship raised fears of a new cycle of violence after the killing last week of a Hamas leader, Ismail Abu Shanab, in a missile strike and the suicide bombing of two buses in Jerusalem, killing 21 people.
Sunday's attack came despite the Palestinian Authority moving for the first time against terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip.
Israel's army chief, Moshe Yaalon, had given warning that all members of Hamas were "potential targets for liquidation."
