VARIOUS: Explosions destroy two cars in Gaza City, killing one militant; Israeli army says it found wired teddy bear in a West Bank laboratory

An Israeli aircraft attacked a car carrying Hamas militants in Gaza City on Saturday (November 25), killing one of the gunmen, the Islamist group said. The Israeli military had no immediate comment. In a separate incident in Gaza City, an explosion tore apart a car but no one was hurt, witnesses and ambulance crews said. Militants who had been in the vehicle said it blew up shortly after they had parked the car and entered a pharmacy. Residents said they did not hear any Israeli aircraft overhead at the time. In Gaza City's Zeitoun neighbourhood, an Israeli aircraft fired a missile at a car with Hamas militants inside. One of the men was killed, the organisation said. Israel has pledged to step up attacks, including what it calls targeted strikes, against militant groups behind frequent cross-border rocket launchings. In the West Bank town of Nablus, Israeli troops found an explosive teddy bear in a laboratory during a routine operation, an Israeli army spokeswoman said. She added that the soldiers were on a operating in the town to locate and destroy militant's infrastructures when they entered a warehouse that seemed to be used as an explosives laboratory. Israeli troops often raid towns in the West Bank in order to arrest Palestinian gunmen and to locate and destroy their infrastructures. Earlier, a rocket fired by Palestinian militants in the Gaza strip struck a house in the Israeli town of Sderot, badly damaging the house. According to medical officials there were no injuries or casualties from the attack. The rocket destroyed the house after penetrating the ceiling and roof. Nearby residents rushed to the street in confusion to check on their neighbours. Also on Saturday (November 25), Israeli tank shells slammed into a house and a car in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday, causing at least two injuries, hospital officials said. Israeli tanks and troops have been operating in the area east of Jabalya. The explosions took place shortly after militants fired rockets into Israel, residents said. An army spokeswoman said the tank shells were fired at rocket launchers. Two militants escaped from the car with minor injuries. It was not immediately clear whether anyone was inside the house. Israel began an offensive in the Gaza Strip in June after Palestinian militants from Gaza captured an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid. Nearly 400 Palestinians, about half of them militants, have been killed since the offensive began, according to Palestinian hospital officials.

ITN Source | November 26, 2006

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