Palestinians youths throw stones at an Israeli armored vehicle in Beit Hanun

Additional Reporting by Mustafa el-Sawaf, IOL Palestine Correspondent

GAZA CITY, April 9 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Few hours after Israeli F-15 and Apache helicopters killed seven Palestinians in a residential area in Gaza City, Israeli occupation forces gunned down three Palestinians and wounded several others in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanun on Wednesday, April 9.

The slain Palestinians were identified as Imad al-Hindi, 21, Ahmed Abu Qumsum, 13, and Ali al-Mashafi, 36.

Israeli forces opened fire at Palestinian youths who rushed to the entrance of Beit Hanun to throw stones at Israeli tanks and armored personnel carriers rumbling into the town, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

The attack came hours after Israeli U.S.-made F-16 fighters and Apache helicopters pounded a residential neighborhood in Gaza City late Tuesday, killing at least seven Palestinians and wounding more than 50 others, including two Islamic resistance Movement Hamas members.

In the meanwhile, a 12-year-old Palestinian child died of his injuries sustained during an Israeli incursion in the Gaza Strip refugee camp of Jabalia earlier in March.

This brought to 3,144 the number of people killed since the outbreak of the Palestinian Intifada against the Israeli occupation, including 2,367 Palestinians and 719 Israelis.

Initial Revenge

In an immediate retaliation for the Tuesday aerial attack, Hamas fighters fired a home-made rocket into southern Israel early Wednesday.

Al-Qassam rocket landed in the southern Israeli town of Sderot, a frequent target for such attacks in the past, especially after bloody Israeli raids.

No one was hurt in the strike, Israeli army radio said.

Israeli police sealed off the area where it fell and sappers were working to neutralize the explosive charge, which reportedly had not gone off.

The rocket attack is "an initial response" to the Israeli massacres, a number of the group members told IslamOnline.net.

Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, claimed firing four rockets on Sderot as well as firing mortar rounds at the Jewish settlement and army base of Netzarim, on Gaza City's southern edge.

"The revenge of the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades for the murders in the Palestine lands and in Iraq will be very painful," Hamas said in a statement.

"As the axis of evil countries continues aggression against Iraq, including religious sites and holy shrines, Israeli warplanes intensify their strikes," against Palestinian areas, the Brigades said in the statement.