Israel kills two Palestinian youth in Gaza

Israeli drones killed on Wednesday at dawn two Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, claiming that they had been behind the latest rocket attacks against Israeli settlements and cities in southern Israel.

A spokesperson of the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Ashraf Al’Qedra, confirmed the killing of cousins Ahmed and Mohamed Al’Za’aneen. They were 21 and 23 years old.

Al’Qedra said that the two youth, who were targeted while in a civilian car, were torn into pieces after being attacked by a rocket of an Israeli drone.

Later on, an Israeli army official told the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth that the Israeli army had targeted “a terrorist involved in recent rocket attacks against Israel.” The official described Mohamed Al’Za’aneen as “a key figure in the far left Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.”

The official claimed that Al’Za’aneen had been involved in firing rockets during the funeral of former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who was buried earlier this month in southern Israel, near Gaza.

Islamic Jihad announced that the other youth killed in the Israeli attack was one of its members. The movement stated that he was not involved in any military activities.

The Palestinian government in Gaza, led by Hamas, said on Tuesday that it was deploying its police forces along the Gaza borders to stop the alleged rocket attacks against Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded by threatening to teach Hamas a lesson “very soon”.

“We have a very clear policy. We prevent terror attacks when we identify them in the making, and we respond forcefully against whoever hurts us,” Netanyahu told reporters at a press conference with the Canadian prime minister.

He continued: “This policy produced a quiet year in 2013, which was the quietest in many years. If Hamas and the terror organisations have forgotten this lesson, they will learn it again powerfully very soon.”