Two Hamas militants and two civilians - a child and a woman - were killed Wednesday in ongoing Israeli military ground operations in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical sources said according to Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. Several Israeli army tanks and armoured vehicles had seized positions east of Jabalia refugee camp, a densely-populated area, to prevent militants from launching homemade rockets at Israel. On Wednesday morning, an Islamic Hamas militant was shot dead in a gunbattle between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants, Palestinian witnesses and security sources. The sources said that Massad Ahmed, 35, was hit by shrapnel. The military wing of Hamas said in a statement the dead man was one if its members and added that Israeli artillery targeted a training site for the Palestinian Interior Ministry's auxiliary forces. The other man, also reported to be a Hamas member, was shot in the Jabalya refugee camp. Witnesses said dozens of children and teenagers began to throw stones at the Israeli army armoured vehicles, adding that an Israeli officer called on the children though a megaphone to go home.
