Special report: Israel launches Gaza assault

    GAZA, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian militant in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis early Thursday morning, Palestinian medical sources and witnesses said.

    Witnesses said the Israeli troops opened fire at a youth when he was approaching the security fence in eastern Khan Younis that separates Israel and the Gaza Strip.

    The slain, identified as Yousef Qablan, 22, was a member of the Islamic Jihad (Holy War).

    Medical sources confirmed the killing, saying the Israeli army didn't allow Palestinian ambulance to the scene to transport the dead body.

    Yousef is the third Palestinian to be killed in Gaza in less than 24 hours. Two Islamic Jihad militants were killed during an earlier air strike targeting a car.

    Earlier in the day, al-Quds Brigades, military wing of the Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility for launching two home-made rockets at Sderot city in southern Israel.

    In a press release, the brigades asserted they would abide by resistance and called for all Palestinian factions to unite behind battling the Israeli occupation. Enditem