An Israeli aircraft fired missiles at a white Subaru traveling in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanun Friday evening, killing one person, who was later reported to be a member of Fatah's al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.
The victime was identified as Majid Matat, 27. Another Palestinian was wounded in this attack, medical sources reported.
Earlier in the day, the Israeli army on Friday deployed an artillery battery opposite the southern Gaza Strip as Palestinian gunners continued to fire rockets towards southern Israeli targets. On his part, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Friday that Israel would not be restrained in its hunt for Palestinian "terrorists." "The terror organizations must know that we will continue to hunt them everywhere, all the time."
This came as Islamic Jihad, Hamas and the Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades have vowed revenge for Thursday night's strike, which killed seven Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, expressing growing frustration with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, Israel's defense minister dismissed the latter as "a one-man show" bereft of support from his own people and said he sees little chance that a peace deal can be reached with the Palestinians in the present generation.
Shaul Mofaz's remarks were published in an Israeli newspaper Friday. "Behind him, there is nothing, only emptiness. Governmental vacuum. In fact, there is no one to talk to. Abu Mazen and his colleagues in the Palestinian leadership ... haven't done a thing so far. The Palestinian Authority is not an address for us."
