GAZA - Two Palestinian policemen were killed and two others wounded in two explosions overnight in the southwest of the city, the Interior and Health ministries said.
The ministry said in a statement that one of the blasts occurred near a police station southwest of Gaza City, killing two people and wounding a third seriously.
Al-Jazeera correspondent in Gaza also reported that a second explosion occurred near a Palestinian police checkpoint in the Sheikh Ajlin area southwest of Gaza City, causing injuries.
A spokesman for the Health Ministry in Gaza, Ashraf al-Qedra, said the dead were Salama Majid al-Nadim and Alaa Ziad al-Gharabli, 32.
| One explosion killed two people and injured others (Anatolia) |
The Ministry of Interior in the Gaza Strip said in a statement that the two dead policemen and that the security forces in Gaza opened an investigation into the matter, and said that its competent agencies are following the cause of the explosion, which occurred late in the evening.
Israeli exile
Israel denied any responsibility for the blasts, and an Israeli army spokesman said he was unaware of any involvement in the incident.
Earlier on Tuesday, Israel launched an air strike on Hamas targets in Gaza. The Israeli army said the raid was in response to a mortar shell fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israeli territory.
Al-Jazeera correspondent in Gaza, Wael Dahdouh, said that the blasts targeted two police checkpoints in the southwest of Gaza City, which are unusual targets in the bombings and targets that usually occur in the Gaza Strip.
He added that there are conflicting accounts in Gaza between those who talk about an accident and those who confirm that it was a deliberate explosion, and some accuse Israel of responsibility, while others go to accuse others, in light of the uncertainty prevailing in the situation.