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Hamas accuses Israel of escalating violence after killing 2 Gaza militants

18 June 2012 18:17 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Palestinian Hamas movement on Monday accused Israel of escalating violence in the Gaza Strip after the latter killed two Islamic militants in an airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoon, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The Israeli ground forces, which carried out a regular incursion into the northern part of the town, killed two Islamic Jihad militants by a tank shell, few hours after a gunbattle at the Israeli-Egyptian borders, where an Israeli workers and two Egyptian militants were killed.

Fawzi Barhou, Hamas spokesman in Gaza, told Xinhua by phone that Israel "wants to make the Gaza Strip sink into an ocean of blood to divert the attention for the changes in the Arab world, mainly in Egypt."

Adham Abu Selmeya, spokesman of Gaza emergency services, told Xinhua that the two activists were recognized as Mohamed Shabat and Ismail Abu Ouda, both in their early 20s.

"The Zionist enemy has a security plan that is backed by the United States with money and arms to uproot the Palestinians amid European silence and unstable situation in the Arab world," said Barhoum.

The spokesman denied earlier Israeli accusations that his movement was behind launching Grad rockets from the Egyptian desert of Sinai at the southern Israeli city of Eilat, adding that the conflict with Israel "would go beyond the Palestinian borders. "

Over the past few days, the Israeli army ground forces have been carrying out regular incursions into the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave. The Israeli army said the operations aimed at clearing areas used by militants in the Gaza Strip to fire homemade rockets and mortars at southern Israeli communities.

Abu Ahmed, spokesman of Islamic Jihad armed wing, known as Saraya al-Quds in Gaza, held Israeli responsible for killing two of his group’s militants. He told Xinhua that his group is warning Israel of the collapse of calm the area is witnessing.

"Israel has been carrying out violations to the calm and it will be fully responsible for the collapse of this calm if its army keeps carrying out incursions against the Palestinian armed resistance," said Abu Ahmed.

Killing the two Islamic Jihad militants came shortly after two Egyptian militants and one Israeli worker were killed at the borderline area between Egypt and Israel, southeast of the Gaza Strip. The militants managed to infiltrate into Israel and attacked an Israeli army patrol by a roadside bomb.

Meanwhile, at least five Palestinian civilians were injured in Israeli aerial attacks on central and southern Gaza Strip on Monday.

Palestinian security sources also said that Israeli F16 warplanes struck a military training post belongs to the armed wing of Islamic Hamas movement, al-Qassam Brigades, in central Gaza Strip, no injuries were reported.