Gaza flares up again

Israeli airstrikes killed a baby, her pregnant mother and two other Palestinian yesterday after Gaza protesters fired some 200 rockets from the territory as a fragile cease-fire faltered and a further escalation was feared. The latest flare-up came with Hamas, the hard-line movement that rules the blockaded Gaza Strip, seeking further concessions from Israel under the cease-fire. Israel said around 250 rockets were fired from Gaza and its air defenses intercepted dozens of them.

One woman was seriously injured in a rocket strike on the Israeli city of Kiryat Gat, some 20 kilometers from the Gaza border, police said. Police said a man was also hospitalized in the city of Ashkelon and spoke of other injuries without providing details. A house near Ashkelon was damaged, while other rockets hit open areas.

The Israeli army said its tanks and planes hit some 120 targets in its response. They included an Islamic Jihad attack tunnel that stretched from southern Gaza into Israeli territory, military spokesman Jonathan Conricus said. The Gaza health ministry reported a 22-year-old man, a 25-year-old man as well as a 14-month-old baby and her pregnant mother killed, with 17 others wounded. An Israeli army spokeswoman said the military did not have any information on the incident involving the baby. The army said earlier it was targeting only military sites