Fresh Israeli airstrike critically wounds Gaza militant

A Palestinian militant was critically wounded on Monday evening in a fresh Israeli airstrike on the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoon, medics and eyewitnesses said. The witnesses said that an Israeli air-to-ground missile was fired at a group of militants, who were trying to fire rockets from the area on southern Israel, adding that one was critically wounded and the others managed to escape. Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman of the Hamas-run ministry of health told reporters that one Palestinian was critically wounded in the last Israeli airstrike on Beit Hanoon town, adding he was taken to Shiffa Hospital in Gaza city. The escalation of violence between Israel and Gaza militants has mounted on the eve of the historic visit of the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad Ben Khalifa al Thani and a high-ranking official delegation to the Gaza Strip. Earlier on Monday, two militants were killed and four critically wounded in two separate Israeli airstrikes on the town, according to al-Qedra.