MIDDLE EAST: Seven Palestinian civilians, including three children, were killed yesterday in an Israeli artillery barrage as they were having a picnic on a Gaza beach.
Earlier, three Palestinian militants were killed in an Israeli air-strike, bringing to 14 the number of Palestinians killed in less than 24 hours in the Gaza Strip.
The military wing of Hamas, which has largely observed a truce since February 2005, announced it would renew attacks inside Israel. In a statement, the Islamic movement's armed wing declared that "the earthquake in the Zionist cities will resume and the herds of occupiers have no choice but to prepare coffins or departing luggage".
Three women and a man were also killed and 40 injured when at least one artillery shell struck a packed beach in northern Gaza. The army halted all artillery fire in the area, aimed at deterring Palestinian militants from firing rockets into Israel, and said the incident was being investigated.
The military also issued an apology, saying it regretted "any harm caused to innocent civilians".
"We take many security measures not to harm the uninvolved," said Maj Yoav Galant, head of Israel's southern command. "Unfortunately, in a war operation, there are also mistakes. If indeed a mistake happened, we will admit it."
Since Israel withdrew from Gaza last year, Palestinian militants have stepped up the firing of makeshift rockets into southern Israel. The army has responded with frequent artillery bombardments of the area in northern Gaza from where the rockets are being launched, and with aerial strikes on militants, often in their cars.
Three militants were killed in one such air-strike yesterday, just after they fired a rocket into Israel. The three were identified as members of a small militant group called the Popular Resistance Committees, which has carried out much of the rocket fire in recent months. The group's leader, Jamal Abu Samhadana, was killed on Thursday night, along with three other militants, in an air strike on a training camp in southern Gaza. Samhadana, a powerful figure in the southern part of the Strip, was recently appointed to head a militia set up by the new Hamas government.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas condemned the "bloody massacre" in Gaza, and called on the international community to intervene.
Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniyeh called the Gaza attacks "war crimes in the full meaning of the word".