Five Palestinians were wounded and one house and industrial establishments destroyed as Israeli occupation forces escalated attacks on the Gaza Strip, witnesses and medical sources said.
In the city of Rafah, two brothers were wounded Thursday when Israeli tanks opened heavy machine guns at houses in the neighbourhood of al-Salam, medics said.
Sources in the city's Al-Najjar hospital told WAFA that Mohammed 27, and Khaled Khafaja 25, were moderately wounded with shrapnel during the Israeli attack on al-Salam.
Witnesses said that more than 15 Israeli tanks, armoured vehicles and bulldozers, backed by Apache helicopters, rolled Thursday morning into the neighbourhood.
"They destroyed one houses, a well, ice-cream factory, a café," eyewitness said, adding that several houses were also damaged during the attack. Earlier, Israeli Apache helicopters launched two raids on Gaza, wounding three people and destroying a house and a store.
Ahli Hospital sources, in Gaza, said that three civilians, including a fireman, were wounded on Wednesday overnight during the two separate raids on Gaza.
The two raids targeted the house of Saleh al-Ryashi's in al-Zaytoun neighbourhood and his spare-part store in Asqoula neighbourhood, witnesses said. Two weeks ago, Israeli helecopters hit al-Ryashi's house leaving partial damages. (albawaba.com)
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