GAZA: Israel on Wednesday carried out its first air strike in more than a week in Gaza, both sides said, breaking a relative lull as the United States pressed a peace plan.
The Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas commander, charging that he had been planning attacks against Israeli forces operating in the war-battered territory.
“The terrorist was struck in an aerial strike in order to remove the threat to IDF troops,” a military statement said, adding that it tried to mitigate civilian harm.
Gaza’s civil defense agency said the strike in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip targeted civilians riding in a tuk-tuk.
The strike killed Mohanad Saada, whose body was “torn to pieces,” and wounded five other people, according to the civil defense agency and Al-Shifa Hospital.
