'Work accident' blamed in death of 3 Gaza girls

Two teenaged Palestinian girls and one 2-year-old died yesterday in an explosion in a house in the Al-Qarara region of the southern Gaza Strip. The blast is thought to have been the result of a "work accident" after a large bomb hidden in the house exploded.

The explosion took place in the home of the Abu Sabt family, also damaging the home of the Al-Samiris next door. The blast killed Bara Sabt, 2, Hatam Al-Samiri, 17 and Samah Sabt, 19. Six other Palestinians were injured.

On Friday, five armed militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad were killed in fighting with the Israel Defense Forces in the Gaza Strip. Two IDF soldiers were slightly injured.

Also on Friday, a Qassam rocket fired from Gaza hit a textile factory in Sderot, igniting a fire that caused significant damage. Four other Qassams and four mortar shells landed in open areas in the northern Negev, causing no injuries or damage. In addition, a roadside bomb was found near the border fence in central Gaza and safely neutralized.

Early Friday morning a Golani Brigade unit killed a Hamas activist in the northern strip. Two soldiers who were slightly injured in the incident were evacuated to Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva.

In a second incident at the same time, a reserves paratroop unit killed an Islamic Jihad activist near Khan Yunis. A Hamas gunmen was killed by IDF tank fire near the Nahal Oz border crossing. On the outskirts of the neighborhood of Sajiya, in eastern Gaza, the air force fired missiles at two Hamas gunmen as they approached an IDF ground force operating in the area. Both were killed.

The incidents of the past few weeks have occurred mainly in what the IDF calls the "safety strip," two or three kilometers into Palestinian territory, west of the border fence. Most fall into one of two categories: IDF attacks on terror cells attempting to place bombs near the perimeter fence or incidents involving small Hamas units that are trying to keep the IDF from going further into Palestinian territory.

The vast majority of these incidents end in Palestinian casualties, but senior IDF officers have told Haaretz that the fighting abilities of the Hamas cells are improving rapidly. They say there is clear evidence of an organized command-and-control arrangement that coordinates the Palestinian forces.

According to the officers, it is becoming increasingly more difficult for the IDF to enter the Palestinian areas, and the IDF needs to make tactical changes to prevent Israeli casualties.

Attorney General Menachem Mazuz is to consider today the military establishment's recommendations for new economic sanctions on the Gaza Strip. If its plan is approved, the IDF will begin implementing periodic power outages in the strip and will gradually reduce fuel supplies to the area .