A Palestinian militant was killed and five civilians wounded Tuesday evening when an Israeli tank shelled the village of Khuza'a, east of the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younsi, medics said, dpa reported.
Adham Abu Selmeya, a spokesman in the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, told reporters that Hassan Abu Rook, 22, was killed and five civilians wounded, two of them in serious conditions.
"Israeli army tanks stationed at the borders between south-east Gaza Strip and Israel fired several shells at the village of Khuza'a, where Abu Rook was killed and five wounded," said Abu Selmeya.
Witnesses said they heard huge explosions after the tanks fired several shells at the residents' houses. No further damage was reported.
The militant group, Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), which is loyal to the Islamist Hamas movement, said that Abu Rook is a member of the group and he was in the area on a special mission.
An Israeli army spokesman told Israeli Radio that the soldiers noticed a Palestinian militant trying to approach the borders to plant a roadside bomb in the area, adding that the soldiers opened fire and hit him.
Over the past two weeks, seven Palestinian militants have been killed and more than 20 wounded in a renewed wave of violence between the Israeli army and the Gaza Strip militants.
However, Hamas leaders in Gaza last week renewed their commitment to a ceasefire reached with Israel at the end of Israel's Operation Cast Lead, which lasted for three weeks in the winter of 2008/09, ending on January 18, 2009. Hamas has had effective control of the Gaza Strip since 2007.
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