Death toll from attacks in southern Israel reaches 6.
A series of coordinated attacks targeted at least one passenger bus and several cars; more than 10 people were injured.
A series of coordinated attacks against at least one passenger bus and several cars in southern Israel killed at least six people on Thursday, officials said. In an interview with public radio, the spokesman for the country's emergency services, Eli Bin, said that four of the dead were in a private car. It was not yet clear where the other two people had died. According to Israeli officials, more than 10 people were injured.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak accused the Gaza Strip of being behind the coordinated attacks and stated that Israel would retaliate. "The source of the terrorist incidents is Gaza, and we will act against them with all our strength and determination," Barak said in a statement, apparently referring to militants in the coastal strip. Gaza is controlled by the Islamist group Hamas.
Hamas, however, denied any role in the multiple attacks. "The Palestinian government denies the accusations made by Barak regarding the operation in Eilat and affirms that there is no connection between the Gaza Strip and what occurred near Eilat," Hamas spokesman Taher al-Nunu told Agence France-Presse.
The dead were victims of a series of attacks involving gunfire and bombs launched against vehicles in the Arava desert, in the south of the country, near Eilat. Earlier, the Israeli military reported at least three consecutive attacks in the area, close to the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula.
Thursday's attacks targeted a passenger bus, a private car, and a group of soldiers, according to the army. A military spokesman, Brigadier Yoav Mordechai, said that security forces pursued some of the attackers and exchanged fire with them. According to the spokesman, the perpetrators used heavy weapons, possibly mortars or anti-tank weapons, as well as explosives.
"We are talking about a terrorist squad that infiltrated Israel," stated a military spokeswoman, Colonel Avital Leibovich. "This is a coordinated terrorist attack against Israelis." (Information from the Associated Press and Dow Jones.)