Two Palestinian militants were killed in an explosion in the northern Gaza Strip Saturday morning. The Israeli army has denied claims by witnesses that a reconnaissance drone fired a rocket at a group of five gunmen who gathered near the border town of Beit Hanoun. Other witnesses however said a rocket the group was about to fire into Israel exploded prematurely.
Medical sources said that a man's body was brought to Kamal Adwan hospital in Jabaliya and another badly wounded man died soon after arrival. A third one was moderately hurt. Security sources said the fighters belonged to the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), an armed group loyal to the Islamic Hamas movement.
Meanwhile, Palestinian officials on Saturday warned that the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip was deteriorating because Israel was showing no signs of opening crossing points. "There are no indications that goods required to meet the basic needs of the Gaza Strip will be allowed to enter in the next few days," said Hatem Owaida, an official at the ministry of economics.
Israel closed the commercial crossing points along the Gaza Strip on November 4, following a surge of violence that left a June cease-fire in tatters. Ten Hamas militants have been killed since. The Islamic movement, which runs the Gaza Strip, responded by resuming rocket attacks against Israeli border towns. Israel was supposed to allow limited food and dairy supplies into Gaza as well as 18 truckloads of UN aid, "but cancelled the move at the last minute," according to Owaida.