Gaza city: Israeli air strike kills Palestinian militant

A Palestinian militant has been killed
in an Israeli air strike on Gaza City.
Haytham al-Mishal, 29, was hit while
riding a motorcycle. At least one other
person was reportedly also injured.
A militant group which fired rockets at
the southern Israeli city of Eilat two
weeks ago said Mishal had been one of its
members.
It is the first deadly air strike in Gaza
since a ceasefire ended eight days of
fighting between Israel and militants
there in November.
The incident comes after a rise in violence
across the Israeli-Gaza border in recent
days. Militants have fired several rockets
across the border into Israel and Israel
has carried out air strikes, with neither
causing injuries.
A spokesman for Hamas, which governs
Gaza, said it considered the air strike and
the killing of Mishal as "a serious violation
of the ceasefire".
An Israeli government official said the
ceasefire was "based on mutual quiet".
"Attacks on Israel from Gaza are a breach
of the ceasefire and Israel cannot be
expected not to act".
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said
Mishal was a weapons expert who had
made rockets and bombs for different
militant groups.
It said Mishal had been involved in
"extensive terror activity against Israeli
civilians and IDF soldiers", including the
attack on Eilat, a popular tourist
destination on Israel's southern Red Sea
coast.
In that incident, two rockets fired from
the Egyptian Sinai by Gaza-based militants
landed in open areas, without causing
damage or injury.
The Mujahedeen Shura Council said
Misshal had been one of its members.
In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu said: "Today, we
took down one of those involved in the
criminal act of firing rockets against the
town of Eilat. I had said that we would
not sit quietly while this happened, and
this is a clear result of our policy."
Israel and militants in Gaza fought an
eight-day war in November, which ended
with both sides agreeing to desist from air
strikes and rocket attacks.
The truce has largely upheld since then,
despite several incidents of cross-border
fire.