GAZA – Israeli tank shells killed at least two Palestinians and wounded 20 in the Gaza Strip Saturday after an apparent attack on an Israeli army patrol along the Israel-Gaza border, Palestinian medics and local eyewitnesses said.

The casualty toll is one of the highest in a single incident in Gaza in recent months.

Ambulances and private vehicles rushed the wounded to hospital, local eyewitnesses said. The identity of the wounded was not immediately known.
The Israeli military declined immediate comment on the incident.

The attack took place during a period of increased tension at the Israel-Gaza frontier, with militants often firing rockets at Israel which has launched aerial raids targeting Palestinian gunmen.

The Israeli response follows Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s open threat that he was mulling how and when to respond to a blast, on a section of the border near the southern city of Khan Yunis. “Israel views with great seriousness the detonation of an explosive tunnel along the border with the Gaza Strip, south of Kissufim,” Barak said in a statement issued by his office early Friday.

“Defense Minister Barak said that Israel sees Hamas as responsible for the incident and will examine how and when to respond.”

The Israeli military said the blast had thrown an army vehicle 20 meters into the air, although no one was inside it at the time. – Agencies