Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Israeli Strike in Damascus Killed 2 Islamic Jihad Members

Reuters

   GAZA CITY - Palestinian militants fired rockets from Gaza into Israel
   on Monday after an Israeli air strike in Damascus killed two members of
   the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group.

   Israeli jets carried out strikes on suspected Islamic Jihad positions
   in Syria just before midnight on Sunday after the militants and Israeli
   forces clashed over the Gaza border.

   The strikes in the Adeliyah region outside Damascus targeted what the
   Israeli military called "a hub of Islamic Jihad's activity in Syria",
   including the research and development of weapons.

   Islamic Jihad later said in a statement that two of its members were
   killed in the air strike. Israeli Defence Minister Naftali Bennett
   said: "We have eliminated six terrorists in the past 24 hours, not just
   in Gaza."

   The Syrian state news agency SANA quoted a military source as saying
   Israeli aircraft entered Syrian air space and targeted areas around
   Damascus with a wave of guided missiles.

   Syrian state-run al-Ikhbariya television aired footage of what it said
   were explosions in the Damascus night sky showing Syria's air defence
   system shooting down missiles. The Syrian military source said most
   missiles were destroyed before reaching their targets.

   The strike escalated a round of hostilities which began around dawn on
   Sunday when, Israel said, its troops killed an Islamic Jihad member who
   was trying to plant explosives near Israel's border fence with the Gaza
   Strip.

   Video footage shot by a Gaza photographer and widely posted on social
   media showed what appeared to be the lifeless body of an Islamic Jihad
   militant dangling from an Israeli military bulldozer as it removed the
   corpse.

   The images caused an uproar in Gaza, prompting calls for retaliation.
   Islamic Jihad later fired a barrage of rockets into Israel, drawing
   dozens of Israeli air strikes in Gaza.

.