Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei warned Israel on Tuesday that that its deadly air strike in Gaza overnight laid ground to Justified Hamas retaliation.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad pledged revenge Tuesday for the strike that hit a Hamas related community center in the city of Gaza.
‘This crime cannot be accepted … No crime goes unpunished,’ Qurei said at a meeting of the Palestinian Cabinet. ‘For sure there will be retaliation, and the retaliation will be justified if it happens.’
Some 50,000 people attended the 14 funerals, held in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
Early Tuesday, Palestinian gunners fired six Qassam rockets and four mortar shells at Gaza Strip settlements and the Western Negev town of Sderot, one man was slightly injured.
Serious Escalation, Massive Killing in Gaza
08:35
Hamas vowed revenge Tuesday after an Israel Air Force missile strike at a community center in Gaza, killing 14 and wounding 40, many of them seriously.
According to army sources, the community center complex, which includes a building and an outdoor lot, is linked to Hamas and used for training purposes.
The army source also said that dozens of members of the Hamas military wing, Iz a-Din al-Qassam, were meeting at the building during the time of the attack.
Hamas identified the center as a ‘scouts camp†and pledged to hit back at Israel.
‘This ugly Israeli crime … will not pass unpunished,’ said Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the security establishment decided last week to increase assassinations of Hamas operatives in the Gaza Strip, in the wake of last week’s double bus bombing in Be’er Sheva.
The community center named after Hamas’s spiritual leader Ahmed Yassin, is located in the Sajaiya neighborhood in the eastern part of Gaza City.
Eyewitnesses reported that there were two rounds of missile strikes: two missiles were fired at first, and then the rest were fired after residents rushed to the scene to help evacuate the wounded.
This time, there was no specific target, no “ticking bombâ€Â. The attack aimed at massively killing people inside the community center based on suspicions of being affiliated with Hamas.
Even according to Israeli marshal laws, affiliation, or even membership in hostile organizations, including military ones, does not imply the ultimate penalty.
