Hamas warns Israel for killing militants

Palestinian Islamist group Hamas yesterday denied that three of its militants killed in a Gaza air strike were plotting to kidnap Israelis and warned of "consequences".
The Israeli air force launched a missile in the early hours of yesterday at a car travelling in the southern Gaza Strip, killing three members of the Hamas armed wing and wounding a fourth person.
An Israeli military spokesman said the raid, planned jointly with the Shin Bet domestic security agency, was a pre-emptive strike against militants planning to kidnap Israelis during the coming Jewish festival of Passover.
"An Israel air force aircraft hit a Hamas terror cell... planning to carry out kidnapping attacks in the Sinai peninsula and in Israel during the Passover holiday," he told AFP.
The air strike was a "serious escalation" and Israel "will bear all the consequences", the Brigades warned.
A later statement from Brigades spokesman Abu Obeida called the kidnapping allegation "nonsense" and warned of retribution.
"If the enemy wants to play with fire, it will get burned by fire," Abu Obeida said.
The spate of tit-for-tat violence began on March 16 when a rocket fired from Gaza landed in an open area of southern Israel, without causing casualties or damage.