An Israeli shell killed a young Palestinian girl and injured 12 others, including five children, when it hit a house in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday, Palestinian security sources and witnesses said, according to Reuters. An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed that artillery shells had been fired at the area of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, from where three makeshift rockets had been fired at Israel on Monday. Witnesses identified the dead girl as four-year-old Hadeel Ghabeen. Five of the 12 wounded were children, Gaza hospital officials said. Israel has ratcheted up military attacks, including artillery fire, on Gaza since the new Palestinian government led by the Islamist group Hamas took power. --SP 23 29 Local Time 20 29 GMT
