4 killed, 26 wounded in Israeli tanks shelling on eastern Gaza

GAZA - Four Palestinians were killed and 26 wounded early on Saturday evening in the intensive Israeli tanks shelling on eastern Gaza city, medics and eyewitnesses said.

Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman of the Hamas-run ministry of health, told reporters that the death toll after the Israeli tanks' shelling elevated to four killed and 26 wounded -- ten of them are in serious conditions.

Witnesses and residents of the area east of Zeitoon neighborhood in eastern Gaza city said that Israeli army tanks stationed at the borders area between eastern Gaza Strip and Israel fired at least four shells.

They added that the tanks fired the four shells after militants from Gaza fired a missile at an Israeli army jeep that drove near the fence of the borders. The witnesses said flames of fire and black smoke were seen after the jeep was hit.

Israeli Radio reported that militants from Gaza fired a missile at the Israeli army jeep at the borders between eastern Gaza city and Israel, adding that two Israeli soldiers were injured; one of them is in serious conditions.

Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), claimed responsibility for the attack on the jeep, the group said in a leaflet sent to reporters.

The residents of Zeitoon said that Israeli soldiers stationed at lookout posts opened intensive gunfire at the neighborhood, where ambulances were not able to reach the place and take dozens of casualties injured by the shells' shrapnel.

Most of the casualties were taken to Shifa Hospital in Gaza city and nearby medical clinics for treatment by civilian cars, said the witnesses.

Ayman al-Sahabani, chief of emergency at Shifa Hospital said most of the casualties are from eastern Gaza city and all are civilians.

Meanwhile, four Palestinians were also injured in another Israeli tanks shelling incident east of the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis, according to medics and witnesses in the area.

An Israeli police explosive expert examines the remains of a rocket that was fired from Gaza and exploded in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, southern Israel November 10, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]