GAZA // A 10-year-old Palestinian boy and his six-year-old sister were killed in Gaza on Saturday when they were hit by fragments from a missile fired by an Israeli aircraft.
The Israeli military said its aircraft had targeted four militant training camps belonging to Hamas after four missiles landed in open areas of southern Israel on Friday night. No casualties were reported from the rocket fire.
Residents of Beit Lahiya village in the northern Gaza Strip said Yassin Abu Khoussa died after debris from the explosion hit his home, which is situated next to a militant training camp.
His sister Israa, who was seriously wounded, later died in hospital.
Another brother, Ayub, 13, suffered moderate injuries.
Yassin was buried on Saturday afternoon, when hundreds of mourners attended his funeral.
The fatalities from air strikes in Gaza were the first since last October.
Senior Hamas official Ismael Radwan called the predawn wave of Israeli strikes “an escalation” and placed “full responsibility” on Israel.
The Israeli army said that since the beginning of the year, seven rockets have now been fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel.
Sunni militants claiming links to ISIL have said they were behind rocket fire in recent months, but Israel holds Hamas responsible for all such incidents.
Rocket fire from Gaza has tapered off significantly since Israel’s 2014 assault on the Palestinian territory, during which militants fired thousands of rockets and mortar rounds into Israel. More than 2,100 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed in the assault, along with six Israeli civilians and 67 Israeli soldiers.
* Reuters, with additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
