Gaza death toll climbs to 14 with three Hamas deaths (2nd Roundup)

Jun 12, 2008, 21:21 GMT

Gaza/Tel Aviv - The death toll from violence in Gaza climbed to 14 by late Thursday after an Israeli air attack killed three members of the radical Islamic Hamas organization, a Palestinian hospital spokesman in Gaza said.

Earlier in the day, seven Palestinians died in an unexplained explosion in the house of a Hamas bomb-maker in the northern Gaza Strip that wounded more than two dozen others, medical officials and witnesses said.

The earlier death toll from the explosion had been reported as four.

Earlier Thursday, Israeli troops killed two Palestinian gunmen in the Gaza Strip identified as members of the armed wing of the Fatah movement and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

A military spokeswoman in Tel Aviv said soldiers stationed on the border spotted the two gunmen approaching the fence and opened fire. Local Palestinian media reports said the two were killed as they tried to storm an army 'post' in the town of Beit Lahiya in the northern strip.

Israeli soldiers shot one and after a short chase, the second as well. An AK-47 semi-automatic rifle and ammunition was found on the second body, the spokeswoman said.

Two other Palestinians were killed in the course of the day, according to reports, but details were not available.

In the house explosion, some witnesses said the blast was caused by the detonation of explosives stored inside the house in Beit Lahiya. Other witnesses and Hamas insisted the explosion was the result of an Israeli airstrike.

An Israeli military spokeswoman in Tel Aviv said the Israel Defence Force was not connected in any way to the incident.

Hamas has previously blamed Israel for the deaths of its members from the premature detonation of explosives they were handing.

In the past, the Israeli military has sometimes denied responsibility for actions which it was later found to have carried out.

One of the dead was a baby; others included Hamas militants who were in the house when it blew up. The wounded included passers-by who had been in the street at the time of the blast.

Hamas responded to the incident by launching a rocket and mortar barrage on southern Israel, firing at least 40 projectiles. One woman was slightly injured.

The latest fatalities come as both Israel and Hamas appear to be edging toward an Egyptian-mediated truce which would end the violence in and around the Gaza Strip of almost-daily militant rocket launches and Israel ground and air raids.

But analysts have speculated that both sides may escalate their actions before any possible truce comes into effect, in order to show they are not entering into a ceasefire out of weakness.