Gaza militant groups say Israeli crimes won't remain unpunished

Gaza militant groups say Israeli crimes won't remain unpunished

2011-04-03 22:53:12 GMT+7 (ICT)

GAZA CITY (BNO NEWS) -- Hamas and other Gaza-based groups on Sunday vowed to avenge Israel's recent airstrikes, the Jerusalem Post reported.

The groups said during a joint press conference that "Israel's latest crimes will not go unpunished." They said they were preparing a response to recent Israeli targeted assassinations and that they would reach a consensus before acting.

An Israeli plane killed three Hamas men, including a senior member of Hamas' Izzadin Kassam Brigades, early Saturday. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said they had been planning to abduct Israelis during the upcoming Passover holiday.

The Counter-Terror Bureau urged Israelis to leave the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt after the incident.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine in Gaza also announced after the attack it was withdrawing from a recently-announced informal ceasefire and urged other Palestinian militant groups to reconsider it.

According to the IDF, over 130 mortar shells, Qassam rockets and Grad rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory since January. From this amount, more than 56 rockets were fired in recent weeks.

Israel deployed its Iron Dome missile defense system in light of the recent rocket attacks. The missile defense system is planned to protect Israeli civilians from missiles fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza.

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