Child Reportedly Killed in Israeli Strike on Gaza

Strike launched in retaliation for sniper killing
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 24, 2013 8:51 AM CST
Updated Dec 24, 2013 11:20 AM CST
Israel Launches Gaza Airstrike
An Israeli Air Force fighter jet releases flares during an acrobatics display during a graduation ceremony in the Hatzerim air force base near the southern city of Beersheba, Israel, Dec. 27, 2012.   (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Israel launched an airstrike in the Gaza Strip today, in retaliation for the shooting of an Israeli working on the border fence, the Israeli military said, according to the AP. The military gave no hint as to its target or how many casualties it may have inflicted, but Hamas security sources tell CNN that one 4-year-old girl was killed in the strike, and three others were wounded. All four belonged to a family that lived near an al Qassam Brigades camp that the attack appeared to be targeting.

A Palestinian sniper shot Salah Shukri Abu Latyef, a 22-year-old civilian engineer, earlier today, the Jerusalem Post reports. He was airlifted to the hospital, where he died of his wounds. Benjamin Netanyahu called it a "very grave incident," and promised to "react with force" in accordance with longstanding policy. Palestinians have launched a series of attacks on Israeli targets in recent days; Israeli soldiers have fired on Palestinian suspects five times since Friday, including an incident yesterday in which they spotted a man planting a bomb and fired at his legs. (More Israel stories.)

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