11 killed as Israeli planes pound Gaza

GAZA CITY: Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas accused Israel on Tuesday of engaging in state terrorism after nine civilians were among a group of 11 people killed in an air strike on the Gaza Strip.

The raid, the deadliest since the Islamists of Hamas won elections in January, turned the focus back on the conflict with Israel after a bout of factional violence which saw the parliament and cabinet offices set ablaze.   

Although two of the victims were confirmed as members of the hardline Islamic Jihad movement, the other nine were believed to be civilians and included two young brothers, four and eight, and their father.

Around 42 other people, including six children, were wounded in the raid on the main north-south road in the narrow coastal territory, which came shortly before another explosion went off in the Beit Lahiya region of northern Gaza.

Palestinians said the second blast, which wounded one, was the result of an Israeli raid although the army denied involvement.

A military spokesman, however, confirmed the involvement of its aircraft in the first explosion, saying it had hit a car carrying militants who were preparing to fire Katyusha-style rockets which have a much longer range than the usual makeshift missiles fired by the Palestinian factions.

A local leader of Jihad, Khaled al-Batsh, said that three of the movement's followers had been in the vehicle which was targeted in the raid.

Two of the three were killed when two missiles slammed into the vehicle and the other injuries were caused by a third missile which was fired a short time afterwards while a group of civilians had gathered at the scene.   

Israel has intensified its air strikes in recent days against all factions, including the governing Hamas which recently resumed rocket attacks following the death of eight Palestinian civilians on a beachfront in the Gaza Strip.