3 Gazans Killed, 4 Israel Soldiers Hurt as Rocket Hits Army Jeep

Three Gazans were killed and 30 injured by Israeli shelling on Saturday after militants fired an anti-tank rocket at an Israeli jeep, wounding four soldiers, sources on both sides said.

The flare-up was one of the most serious clashes in a single day since Israel's devastating 22-day operation in the Gaza Strip over New Year 2009.

"Three people were killed and 25 wounded in Israeli shelling on the eastern districts of Zeitun and Shejaiya," said Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesman for the Hamas-run health ministry, referring to two districts east of Gaza City.

He said five of the injured were in "serious to critical condition," adding that all of the dead and the wounded appeared to be civilians.

Witnesses said the shooting occurred after an anti-tank missile slammed into an Israeli jeep near the Karni crossing east of Gaza City, in an attack claimed by the armed wing of the left-leaning Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

The Israeli army confirmed that four soldiers had been wounded in attack by an anti-tank missile along the border.

"An anti-tank missile was fired at an IDF (army) patrol along the security fence in the northern Gaza Strip. Four soldiers were injured as a result," a military statement said.

"In response, the IDF targeted several sites in the Gaza Strip."

Military sources said two of the soldiers were in serious condition, and a report on Israel's army radio said the jeep was blown up. The military did not comment on either report.

The attack was claimed by the PFLP's armed wing which issued a statement saying its militants had fired two anti-tank rockets at Israeli troops.

Medics also said another five Palestinians were wounded in Israeli shelling near Khan Yunis in southern Gaza.

Following the attacks, militant groups fired 16 rockets at southern Israel, causing no damage or casualties, the army said.

At least two were longer-range Grad rockets, and one was intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system, the army said.

-- Threats of revenge --

Shortly after the incident, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held consultations with Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Benny Gantz "to discuss the situation in the south," the premier's official Twitter account said.

And Barak issued a statement saying Israel was considering a further military response in the coming days.

"The IDF responded severely to the incident and additional responses will be examined in the coming days," he said.

The bloodshed was swiftly condemned by Gaza's Hamas government, as well as by militant groups which vowed revenge.

"The occupation attacked Palestinian civilians east of Gaza City and Khan Yunis. We consider this escalation as very dangerous. It must stop immediately," said government spokesman Fawzi Barhum.

The armed wing of the radical Popular Resistance Committees also released a statement vowing that "the Zionist enemy will pay a high price for this crime against Gaza."

And Islamic Jihad also issued a warning, saying: "Every aggression against the Palestinian people will be followed by a response from the resistance."

In recent days, tensions have been rising between Israeli troops and Gaza militants.

On Thursday, an Israeli soldier was wounded near the border east of Khan Yunis when a tunnel packed with explosives was detonated in an attack claimed by Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades.

Several hours earlier, a 13-year-old Palestinian was shot dead by gunfire from an Israeli helicopter in the same area, medics and witnesses said.

And on Tuesday, three Israeli soldiers were wounded -- two moderately and one lightly -- in an another explosion in the same area.

The previous flare-up in and around Gaza began on October 22 and continued for three days, with eight militants killed in Israeli air strikes, and armed groups firing more than 100 rockets across the border, severely wounding two Thais.

In December 2008, just six weeks shy of general elections, Israel launched a huge operation in Gaza to stamp out Palestinian cross-border rocket fire which cost the lives of 1,400 Palestinians -- half of them civilians -- and 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers.