by Our Foreign Desk

A PREGNANT woman and her toddler daughter were killed by an Israeli bombing raid on Gaza yesterday.

The Israeli military claimed it had carried out the attack, targeting an alleged arms workshop, in response to rocket fire from the besieged Palestinian territory.

But the bombs hit a house, killing Noor Hassan and her two-year-old daughter and injuring four others, including Ms Hassan’s husband and son.

On Saturday, Palestinians carried out two stabbings in Jerusalem before being shot dead by police, while two Palestinian children aged 11 and 13 were killed in the Khan Younis area, near the containment fence around Gaza.

Another boy, aged 15, was killed near Erez. In a separate incident, about 40 protesters breached the fence, five of whom were arrested.

A Palestinian protester died of gunshot wounds after being hit by bullets on Friday, leading to clashes between protesters and troops at Shuafat refugee camp in east Jerusalem.

A Palestinian woman stopped at a West Bank checkpoint detonated a gas canister in her car, badly injuring herself and slightly injuring a soldier.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that he was considering sanctions against the Islamic Movement, which provides education and religious services to Israel’s 1.5 million Palestinian citizens.

He claimed the movement was inciting violence against Israelis by its criticism of government plans for the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, the focus of recent clashes.

Interior Minister Silvan Shalom said he was considering revoking the citizenship of Israeli Arabs who have been involved in attacks and removing residency rights from those in east Jerusalem.