Israeli forces killed two Hamas activists, including a leading field commander, in a helicopter missile strike in the Gaza Strip Saturday afternoon.
Also in the Strip, Israeli occupation troops killed an 8 year-old girl and wounded seven other Palestinians with submachine gun fire in Khan Younis refugee camp, witnesses and hospital officials said. They said the girl, Aya Fayad, was shot in the chest by soldiers firing at the camp from a nearby military base.
Earlier, four missiles were fired at a vehicle carrying the two Hamas men, witnesses said. It was the Israeli fifth missile strike in 10 days.
Rushing to the burning vehicle, rescue workers pulled away the two men who were traveling on a busy road between the Nusseirat and Bureij refugee camps. One body was badly burned and missing a leg, hospital officials said. Two bystanders were also hit.
The two killed were identified as Abdullah Akel, 37, and Farid Mayet, 40, both members of the Hamas military wing.
Akel was known as a leading field commander of the Hamas military wing in central Gaza. He had been jailed for his membership in Hamas during the first intifada, between 1987 and 1993. Mayet was one of his aides.
