Seven Palestinians at a family picnic were killed Friday when an errant Israel Defense Forces artillery shell apparently slammed into a beach in the northern Gaza Strip. Some 40 others were wounded.
A woman and two young children, aged six months and 18 months, as well as a young teenager were among the dead, medical officials said. All of the dead were believed to be related. The IDF apologized for the incident, saying it 'regretted the strike on innocents.'
In the wake of the shelling, the military wing of the ruling Palestinian Hamas party said that it would renew suicide bombings in Israel, ending the truce that the group declared last year. 'The earthquake in the Zionist towns will start again and the aggressors will have no choice but to prepare their coffins or their luggage,' Hamas militants declared in a leaflet. 'The resistance groups... will choose the proper place and time for the tough, strong and unique response.'
IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz ordered an end to the shelling of northern Gaza - aimed at deterring militants from firing Qassam rockets - until the completion of the investigation into the civilian deaths. The military also offered the Palestinians assistance in the wake of the strike, saying that the wounded could be evacuated to Israeli hospitals.
Major General Yoav Galant, head of the IDF Southern Command, said Friday evening that the army is looking into the circumstances of the explosion. In addition to the more likely scenario that a shell strayed from its path, the army was also exploring whether the explosion might have been caused by a 'work accident.'
'It is not our intention to harm innocent civilians. We are investigating the incident in order to try to clarify what happened here,' Galant said, adding that the IDF is aware of areas in which civilians are present, and that military gunners are ordered to prevent firing on these areas.
IAF strike kills three militants
Earlier Friday, an Israel Air Force strike killed three Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) militants in Beit Hanun, in the Gaza Strip, just minutes after they fired a Qassam rocket into Israel.
IDF sources said that at approximately 3 P.M., the militants fired a rocket that landed in an open field near the southern town of Sderot. One of the militants, who was standing outside the car, was killed by an IAF missile soon after the rocket launch. The other two men attempted to drive away, but were killed by another missile that hit their moving car.
Security forces had been placed on alert Friday following Palestinian threats to avenge Thursday's IAF strike that killed Popular Resistance Committees leader Jamal Abu Samhadana, Israel Radio reported.
Abu Samhadana, who also headed the Hamas government's Interior Ministry security force in the Gaza Strip, was killed in an air strike on a Palestinian militants' training camp in Gaza. Abu Samhadana was a key player in rocket attacks on Israel and a suspect in the fatal 2003 bombing of a U.S. convoy in the Gaza Strip.
More than ten thousands mourners attended Abu Samhadana's funeral in Rafah on Friday afternoon. Among the crowd were senior Hamas officials, including spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, Interior Minister Saed Siam and other parliament members. During the funeral, a 19-year-old was lightly injured by ceremonial gunfire.
At least three other PRC operatives were also killed in the attack. Hospital officials said 10 more were wounded. A PRC spokesman said the group would avenge Abu Samhadana's death. 'The Zionists and Israelis have opened the gates of hell by assassinating Abu Samhadana,' said PRC spokesman Abu Abir. 'The Zionist entity and Zionist settlements near Gaza will not feel security and safety any more. Our rockets will rain into the Zionist entity and our heroes will blow themselves up among their dirty bodies.'
Militants did succeed in launching four Qassam rockets on Friday. Early in the morning two rockets hit Sderot, one of them causing some damage. The other two Qassams landed in open areas later in the day, causing no casualties or damage.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said all the Palestinian organizations have the right to respond to Israeli aggression and that all means were acceptable in harming Israel, Israel Radio reported. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the air strike was an Israeli crime that damages the chances of peace, the radio said.