2 killed, 3 injured in renewed Gaza shelling

Two people were killed and three injured as Israel shelled the Gaza Strip for the second time on Monday, a medical official said. Ashrad al-Qedra, spokesman for Hamas' health ministry, told Ma'an that Israel targeted a street east of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza. The remains of those killed were taken to hospital, but they could not be identified by medics. Israel's army said it had targeted a terrorist squad attempting to fire a rocket from the northern Gaza Strip. It confirmed a direct hit. Earlier on Monday, two Islamic Jihad militants were killed when Israeli military forces shelled the northern Gaza Strip, medics said. Witnesses told Ma'an the men were riding a motorcycle in a field near Beit Hanoun when Israeli forces bombed the area. Four others were injured and taken to Beit Hanoun hospital, they said. Islamic Jihad's military wing the Al-Quds Brigades said the two men were en route to take part in a militant operation after Israeli troops entered the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military said it hit "a terrorist squad of snipers" responsible for several recent attacks along the Gaza border, including the attempted shooting of an Israeli farmer on Thursday, the army said in a statement. A Ma'an correspondent said the men were identified as Muhammad Shabat and Ismael Abu Ouda in their 20s. Overnight Sunday, five people including a woman and a child were injured when Israel bombed a blacksmith's workshop in Rafah in southern Gaza, emergency services spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya said. Earlier Sunday evening, Israel bombed a military site south of Gaza City used by the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. That attack caused no injuries, Abu Salmiya said. Israel's military said it hit "a weapon manufacturing facility in the southern Gaza Strip and a terror activity site in the central Gaza Strip" overnight in response to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.