Israel strikes Gaza's Islamic bank as toll at 112

GAZA CITY: Three Palestinians were killed in two separate strikes in Gaza on Tuesday morning, after a night of relative quiet, the ambulance services spokesman said.

"Two citizens were martyred in two raids in the Mughraqa area, in southern Gaza City, and a third was killed in Beit Lahiya," Adham Abu Selmiya said. The latest deaths pushed the Palestinian death toll to 112, with number of injuries over 920, and came after a night of relative calm -- the first to see no fatalities since the Israeli air campaign began nearly a week ago.

The Israeli military said it attacked about 100 targets in the coastal strip during the night, using aircraft, warships and artillery. Palestinian emergency services said that the raids severely damaged the National Islamic Bank in Gaza City, set up by the strip's Hamas government, in an attack confirmed by the military. "A financial institution used by Hamas to fuel its terror activity was targeted in the northern Gaza Strip," a military statement said.

The Palestinian interior ministry and witnesses also told AFP that strikes hit the homes of several militant leaders, including Raed Aatar, a senior commander in Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades. The home of Abu Anza, a Qassam official in Khan Yunis, was also bombed, along with Islamic Jihad offices in the same southern Gaza town.

An army spokeswoman told AFP that at least three rockets hit southern Israel overnight, and two more were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system. Monday was the bloodiest day of the Israeli operation since it was launched on Wednesday, with 32 people killed. And on Monday night a family of four was killed in an attack on the northern town of Beit Lahiya, and two teenage brothers were killed in the southern city of Rafah. During the day, warplanes had attacked Gaza City's Shuruq tower media centre -- the second time the building has been targeted -- killing a senior Islamic Jihad militant. Islamic Jihad sources named him as Ramez Harb and said he was a senior commander in its armed wing, the Al-Quds Brigades.