Israel Ramps Up Gaza Offensive; 4 Dead

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel stepped up its offensive in the Gaza Strip on Friday, killing at least four people in a series of attacks throughout the coastal area.

The fighting brought the death toll in the offensive to 13 Palestinians, including a young girl, since Thursday.

The army has been carrying out an offensive throughout Gaza since June, when militants linked to the ruling Hamas militant group tunneled into Israel and captured an Israeli soldier. The soldier remains in captivity.

After a recent lull, the fighting has picked up in recent days. Israel TV said the operation in Gaza Friday was the largest there in weeks.

An Israeli aircraft attacked a car in the northern Gaza Strip, killing three Hamas militants, including a local commander, the group said. Witnesses said the force of the blast ripped the white sedan into two parts. The army confirmed it had carried out the strike.

In the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian hospital officials said Israeli troops shot a 29-year-old woman outside her house in the village of Abassan.

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Nine die in air strikes on Gaza

A day of Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip has left nine people dead, including at least four Hamas militants and two children, reports say.
A missile hit a Hamas official’s house after nightfall, but the target survived and two adults and a girl aged 10 died, Palestinian sources said.

Earlier, a boy aged 14, four militants and another person died in an Israeli air attack in southern Gaza.

Israel confirmed both attacks, saying it had been targeting militants.

There have been frequent raids on the Gaza Strip since an Israeli soldier was kidnapped in June by Palestinian gunmen.

More than 200 Palestinians have been killed.

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