Several dead in Gaza missile explosion

An unexploded Israeli missile, left over from last year's Israel-Gaza war, killed four people in the southern Gaza Strip when it suddenly detonated on Thursday.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry said the dead were all members of the same Palestinian family.

Dozens of people were injured in the blast and several are in a serious condition, officials said.

Witnesses described how the four were clearing rubble from a house destroyed in last summer's 50 day Gaza conflict when they discovered the unexploded device.

The missile blew up while they were carrying it away, damaging nearby houses and sending residents of the crowded Rafah refugee camp nearby, running for cover.

The home, which was struck by an Israeli air strike on July 9 of last year, belonged to Ayman Abu Nqira, a lecturer at the Islamic University of Gaza.

The conflict, which took place in July and August 2014, killed about 2,200 Palestinians and 73 on the Israeli side. Tens of thousands of homes in Gaza were damaged or destroyed.

Israelis attacked

Meanwhile, a Palestinian driver rammed his car into pedestrians in the West Bank on Thursday, injuring three Israelis.

Local media showed footage of a white car overturned on a road in the West Bank as paramedics treated the wounded.

Israeli TV said two of the pedestrians were seriously injured.

In the past year, Israel has seen a wave of so-called "lone wolf" attacks by Palestinians using vehicles, knives and guns.

End the blockade

Thursday's incidents happened hours after the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which rules coastal territory, warned of renewed violence unless Israel lifted its Gaza blockade, which restricts the movement of people and goods via land, air and sea.

Mahmud Zahar, a senior Hamas leader said the nine-year-old barriers were unacceptable. "Break the siege because we will not be able to hold back those who want to defend their territory from those who have destroyed their homes and killed their children," he said.

He spoke at a ceremony marking the end of a military-style summer camp for 25,000 Gazans, where they were trained how to fire live ammunition as well as carry out rescue missions and administer first aid.

mm/jil (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)