Updated on
Summary More than 22 people have been killed since Thursday attack which killed 8 in Israel.
Israel struck militants in Gaza and Palestinians fired rockets back following deadly gun attacks along the desert border with Egypt that have raised tensions between Israel and the new rulers in Cairo.Egypt formally protested and demanded Israel investigate the deaths of three of its security men, who, it said, where killed when Israeli forces hunted for the gunmen behind Thursday’s roadside ambushes. In all, more than 22 people have been killed.Eight Israelis perished in Thursday’s assault along the Egyptian border, and at least seven of the attackers also died as Israeli forces tracked them down along the largely open frontier with Egypt.Israel swiftly pinned the blame on a Palestinian group that is independent of the Hamas movement which governs Gaza, and struck back with two days of airstrikes, killing at least 11 Palestinians, including two children aged 2 and 13, and wounding 40 others.Israeli planes also struck a separate target in the town of Khan Yunis late Friday, but no casualties were reported.An airstrike killed the faction’s leadership Thursday and there were numerous other strikes throughout Friday. Huge crowds gathered for the funerals, chanting anti-Israeli slogans and vowing revenge. Israel, stunned by the assault, threatened further attacks.“We have a policy of exacting a very heavy price of anyone who attacks us and this policy is being implemented,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday while visiting wounded compatriots in hospital. Hamas in control of Gaza also cautioned they would respond. “We will not allow the enemy to escalate its aggression without getting punished,” the group’s armed wing said.Militants in the tiny coastal Gaza enclave fired up to 17 rockets at southern Israeli cities, the Israeli military said.Two rockets targeting the city of Ashdod hit a synagogue and a school, wounding two people, one of them seriously.
