GAZA CITY/RAMALLAH, 11 May 2008 — Five Hamas policemen were killed and seven others wounded in two separate Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip late Friday and early yesterday, Hamas and medical sources said.

In one airstrike, two members of Hamas were killed and four others wounded when an Israeli reconnaissance late Wednesday fired one missile at a police station used by Hamas in the central of Rafah city southern the Gaza Strip. Medical sources at Al-Najar hospital in the city identified the dead men as Bassam Abu Shbeika, 23, and Mohammed Abu Armani, 25.

The second airstrike targeted another Hamas police base in western Khan Younis city in the south of the Strip where three members of the Hamas-run paramilitary group were killed and three others were wounded. Medical sources reported that the bodies of the dead were charred and mutilated. They were identified as Mohammed Abu Odeh, Omar Al-Sier and Samir Wafi. The ages were not reported.

In retaliation, Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, announced yesterday that their fighters fired 15 homemade rockets at southern Israel.

The Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip came hours after, Al-Qassam Brigades claimed on Friday its responsibility for shelling Kibbutz Kfar Aza with mortar. Israeli security sources said that one Israeli civilian was killed and three other soldiers were wounded in the shelling.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces wounded six Palestinians during their military operation in the West Bank village of Jaba, north of Jenin, local medical and security sources said yesterday. The sources said that at least 15 Israeli Army vehicles stormed the village. The troops then conducted a wide-scale house-to-house search campaign targeting resident homes.

During the attack clashes erupted between the Israeli soldiers and locals. The sources said that the six youths were wounded by live and rubber-coated metal bullets. Israel recently allowed the Palestinian Authority to deploy hundreds of policemen and other security services in the Jenin area.

The new forces were ordered to enforce the law and resist any criticism or acts of protest. Palestinian officials have added that the forces’ entry into the area was not aimed at fighting armed organizations, but at combating criminal elements.