Middle East: The civilian death toll in Gaza continues to mount, with two Palestinians killed and 14 injured after a missile fired by Israel missed a vehicle carrying militants and slammed into a home as the family inside were sitting down for dinner.
The deaths bring to 14 the number of civilians killed in hostilities in Gaza in the last 12 days.
In yesterday's aerial strike, witnesses said an Israeli aircraft fired a missile at a car near the Khan Younis refugee camp, but the militants inside escaped when the missile hit the home of Fatima el-Barbarwi (37), killing her and her brother, Zacharia Ahmed (45).
The missile struck during a festive meal the family was holding to welcome Mr Ahmed, a physician who worked in Saudi Arabia and who was home on a family visit. An Israeli army spokeswoman said the army had carried out a strike against "a militant" cell.
These civilian casualties come less than 24 hours after another Israeli aerial strike killed three children in Gaza City. A brother and sister aged five and six and a 16-year-old boy were killed in a botched assassination attempt by Israel on two militants who escaped with light injuries.
The army said the men targeted belonged to the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades militia and had been involved in rocket attacks on Israel. As Palestinians yesterday buried Tuesday's dead, al-Aqsa threatened revenge.
"We declare a high alert among our men, with the goal of quickly avenging the Zionists' crimes," they said in a statement. "The Palestinians must declare war on Sderot and the rest of the Zionist settlements. Now it's us against Sderot."
The militants were referring to the southern Israeli town of Sderot, which has been the target of Palestinian rocket attacks for months. While the rockets have not caused a large number of casualties, they have terrified the residents who shut down the town in protest this week.
Israeli leaders, especially defence minister Amir Peretz who lives in Sderot, are under growing pressure to respond to quell the rocket fire.