Three killed as Israel strikes Gaza in fresh flare-up

Three Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip today, the enclave's health ministry announced, as Israel's army said it was hitting Hamas after its soldiers came under fire.

Three Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip today, the enclave's health ministry announced, as Israel's army said it was hitting Hamas after its soldiers came under fire.

The flare-up comes five days after a United Nations-brokered ceasefire helped halt an earlier surge in violence.

The three were killed in strikes east of Gaza City, a health ministry statement said, without giving their identities.

The Israeli army said it carried out artillery strikes against seven military targets belonging to Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas.

"A short while ago, terrorists fired at (Israeli) soldiers in the southern Gaza Strip," an army statement said, without mentioning any injuries to the troops.

"In response... artillery targeted seven military posts in Gaza belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization." There was no immediate comment from Hamas about the identities of the dead.

The shooting was the second such incident reported by the Israelis along the fractious border in days.

On Friday an Israeli soldier was shot dead, sparking a fierce wave of the bombing that ratcheted up fears of another war. That violence was ended late Friday by a UN-brokered ceasefire. Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008.

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