Palestinian sources: Israeli air strike kills 3
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Palestinians try to douse a burning car following an Israeli missile strike in Gaza City on Wednesday.
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JERUSALEM (CNN) -- The Israeli military said it launched a helicopter air strike Wednesday on a car in Gaza carrying senior members of the Palestinian Islamic fundamentalist group Hamas.
Palestinian security sources said all three Hamas members in the car were killed in the attack, which took place near the Jewish settlement of Netzarim.
The militants were traveling along the Sea Road, a north-south thoroughfare, the Palestinian sources said. Security sources identified the victims as Amer Hassan, Ibrahim Deri and Atrad al Jamal.
In a statement, the Israeli army said the Hamas members were involved in a large number of attacks against Israeli civilian and military targets and were planning more strikes.
Hamas has been labeled by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organization. The group's military wing, Izzedine al Qassam, has admitted responsibility for terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians as well as attacks against the Israeli military.
Witnesses described they saw. "A missile from the sky hit the car," Ahmed Asmat told The Associated Press. Asmat, 35, told the AP he was in his greenhouse about 100 yards (100 meters) from the target.
"Intense gunfire came from the direction of the settlement, about 500 meters (500 yards) away," Asmat said.
Another witness, who the AP identified as only Bashir, said, "The explosion led to a huge fire in the car, I started to run with other farmers who live nearby."
Wednesday's strike was the latest in a string of Israeli attacks on Palestinian targets in the aftermath of a terrorist suicide bombing of a Jerusalem bus that killed eight people on February 22. (Full story)
Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said after Israeli attacks on Sunday that the army would continue to strike against Palestinians who are planning attacks against Israelis.
In the Sunday strikes, Israeli military forces killed two members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in separate incidents, according to Palestinian officials. (Full story)
On Saturday, an Israeli air strike killed three members of Islamic Jihad in Gaza City, Palestinian security sources said. (Full story)
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
