Twelve Palestinians wounded in Israeli raid in Gaza

GAZA CITY (AFP) — Twelve Palestinians were wounded, including four Islamic Jihad militants seriously, in an Israeli air raid on the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, medics said.

The strike hit a car in which the militants were traveling in the northern Gaza city of Beit Lahya.

The other casualties were passers-by.

An Israeli army spokesman said the raid targeted Islamist Jihad militants Mohammed Zaanin and Nidal Chaqura.

He said the two were members of a cell responsible for a February 25 rocket attack on the southern Israeli town of Sderot that seriously wounded an eight-year-old Israeli boy, causing him to lose a leg.

More than 130 Palestinians have been killed since February 27 when Israel launched a blitz on the Palestinian enclave in response to rocket fire on southern Israel.

Five Israelis, including four soldiers, were killed during the same time.