Israeli missile strike kills Hamas gunmen

An Israeli missile killed six Hamas gunmen and wounded one other in the Gaza Strip yesterday, Palestinian hospital staff said.

The Israeli army confirmed that it had fired at the vehicle carrying the militants.

"There was a strike on a car carrying militants who today fired rockets into Israel," an army spokesman said.

Hamas denied the dead gunmen had fired rockets. It has not claimed any rocket attacks on Israel since its violent takeover of the Gaza Strip from the rival Fatah group in June.

Other militant groups have continued to launch many rockets across the border into nearby Israeli towns and agricultural communities causing some damage, a few injuries and deaths but great panic among civilians and a disruption of daily life.

Hamas identified all six dead as members of their Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades military wing. It said the vehicle was hit as it arrived at a Hamas security post near the al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.

One of the dead was named as local Hamas commander Mohammed abu Arab.