Relatives are mourning a six-year-old Palestinian boy who was killed by an Israeli strike on the Gaza Strip. Israel confirmed the strikes, which also wounded 20 other people, but denies any involvement in the child’s death.

On Saturday Israel launched air raids on Palestinian territory following rocket fire from Gaza that wounded an Israeli man.

Gaza health officials confirmed that at least four people had been killed and over 20 more wounded, including civilians. Israel confirmed its aircraft had struck two militant targets in Gaza overnight, saying it was a retaliatory raid.

In the wake of the attacks, Hamas has threatened to call off an Egypt-brokered truce and escalate attacks on Israel.

A third separate Israeli attack killed a six-year-old boy at a soccer field near the town of Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip, Hamas medical officials claimed. The boy’s father was wounded in the shelling. Palestinian relatives of six-year-old Ali al-Shwaf mourned his death later on Sunday.

An Israeli military spokeswoman, however, denied Israel was responsible for the latter attack, saying that “an initial examination shows the military was not involved in this incident.”

Israel claims Gaza militants have fired more than 130 rockets into its territory over the last week.

The country’s authorities have urged the one million Israelis who live in the south to stay indoors for their safety.

The Israeli military’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, has gathered senior officers to discuss the latest flare-up in violence.

The strikes follow Monday’s skirmish between Israeli forces and three alleged militants who attacked workers on the border with Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. Two militants were killed, while one managed to escape.



The uncle of Osama Ali, killed in an Israeli air strike, grieves during his funeral in Gaza City on June 23, 2012. The uncle of Osama Ali, killed in an Israeli air strike, grieves during his funeral in Gaza City on June 23, 2012.

Palestinians carry the body of six-year-old Ali al-Shwaf during his funeral in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip on June 23, 2012, after he was killed during an Israeli air strike in Gaza as his father and another man were wounded in the shelling, but the Israeli military denied it was responsible.



Wounded men are wheeled into the emergency room of a hospital following an Israeli strike on Gaza City on June 23, 2012. Wounded men are wheeled into the emergency room of a hospital following an Israeli strike on Gaza City on June 23, 2012.

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