Three militants killed as Israel strikes Gaza in new flare-up

Israeli strikes killed three Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip today in a fresh flare-up of violence despite a United Nations-brokered ceasefire deal.

The Israeli army said the strikes targeting Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas were in retaliation for shots fired at its soldiers along the border yesterday.

The latest bloodshed comes five days after the UN and Egypt brokered a deal to halt a surge in violence that once again raised the spectre of a new round of conflict between Hamas and Israel.

The three men were killed in strikes east of Gaza City, the health ministry in Gaza said.

In a statement Hamas's military wing hailed them as its fighters from the Shejaiya area in northern Gaza, saying they were killed during strikes on one of their observation points.

The Israeli army said it carried out artillery strikes against seven military targets belonging to 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 organisation." A spokesman for Hamas said in a statement the group would "not abandon its duty to defend and protect our people and to respond to aggression."
Israeli politicians have called for tougher measures against those launching the kites and balloons and earlier Wednesday