A series of explosions tore through the home of a Palestinian Hamas member in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing at least three people and wounding three, hospital officials and witnesses said, according to Reuters.
The cause of the blasts was not immediately known. The two-story home belongs to Salah Nassar, a Hamas member whose brother, Wael Nassar, is a senior official in the military wing of the Islamic group, local residents said.
Salah Nassar survived the explosions but was burned along with his father. His brother was not in the house at the time. "We heard two big explosions inside the building on the first floor followed by a series of explosions," one witness told Reuters.
Police said they were investigating the cause of the blasts, which engulfed the house in flames.
In the West Bank, an Israeli soldier was lightly injured Thursday afternoon when a Palestinian opened fire on his vehicle as he was travelling between the West Bank settlements of Ofra and Beit El. He was hit in the arm, Haaretz reported.
The officer in the vehicle returned fire, killing the Palestinian.
Meanwhile, an elite squad of Israeli soldiers traded fire in a 30-minute gun battle with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the West Bank city of Tulkarem.
The soldiers penetrated a few metres inside Tulkarem refugee camp when Palestinians opened fire on them from the camp's alleyways, a member of the armed Palestinian faction told AFP.
The troops escaped after about 30 minutes and an 18-year-old Palestinian male was hit in the chest by random fire.
(Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
