Israelis answer Palestinian rocket attack

GAZA, Feb. 29 (UPI) -- Five Palestinians, two of them children, were wounded in an Israeli Air Force attack on a Gaza rocket production facility Friday, Palestinian sources said.

The attack in the Shati refugee camp was part of an operation aimed at halting Qassam rocket fire on southern Israel. Israeli planes also conducted two air strikes in the Jabalya area and one in Beit Lahiya,

At least 18 Palestinians, including five boys under the age of 16 and a 6-month-old baby, were killed in clashes with Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip Thursday, Haaretz reported. Two militants also were killed in clashes with the Israeli troops in the West Bank, Haaretz said.

The deaths come a day after Israeli troops killed 12 Palestinians in Gaza fighting and an Israeli college student was killed in a Qassam rocket strike outside Sderot.