2 killed, 7 wounded in Israeli strike against north Gaza

A spokesman for the Israeli army told Xinhua that the army fired several shells at a group of Palestinian gunmen who were spotted approaching the fence that separates Gaza and Israel in eastern Beit Hanoun city.

The spokesman said that the shells killed one member of the group who was carrying a suspicious object suspected to be a rocket launcher.

Meanwhile, Gaza emergency chief Mo'aweya Hassanein told Xinhua that a seriously wounded Palestinian died of his sustained wounds later in the hospital, adding that "the toll of the Israeli strike increases to two, while seven wounded."

Palestinian witnesses said one of the Israeli missiles landed on a house owned by Al-Massri family, wounding a boy and a young man.

Meanwhile, witnesses said that a group of gunmen fired a home- made rocket at Israel from eastern Beit Hanoun and the Israeli army responded with artillery fire, killing a gunman.

Gaza's northern and eastern borders with Israel witness violent incidents from time to time as the Jewish state imposed a 300- meter-wide buffer zone along the borders. Kazionform refers to Xinhua. See www.xinhuanet.com