Israel, Gaza exchange fire over assassinations

Source Los Angeles Times
Source Ha'aretz

Israel's assassination of two Gazans allegedly involved in terrorism provoked a flurry of rocket fire, which in turn provided justification for Israeli airstrikes, injuring several civilians, according to numerous news articles. The Los Angeles Times reports that the assassinations, or "targeted killings" as they are often called, were the result of a joint operation of the Israeli Army and its foreign intelligence service, Shin Bet. According to the Times, the two targeted men were plotting violent actions against Israel and the U.S. in the Sinai Peninsula. In retaliation for the killings, Gaza's Popular Resistance Committees, a militant organization involved in numerous attacks against Israel in the past decade, fired two Russian-made Grad rockets, two Katyusha rockets, and seven mortar shells into southern Israel, causing some damage but no injuries, according to Israel's Ha'aretz newspaper. Israel struck three targets in response, injuring six Gazans, including two women and a child, according to the LA Times. At the same time, foreign minister Avigdor Liebeman instructed Israel's UN envoy to file a formal complaint against Gaza after one of the mortar shells fired into Israel was found to contain white phosphorus. read the rest here,, here, and here.