Gaza: Five Palestinians killed ,20 injured

Five Palestinians have been killed and more than 20 injured in a series of clashes close to the Gaza Strip.

 Four died when “Israel” open fired after a missile attack on an army patrol jeep which injured four “Israeli” soldiers.

 Hamas officials said the casualties were civilians at a funeral in the Shijaia neighbourhood near GazaCity.

 In a later incident, Islamic Jihad said one of its members was killed by an “Israeli” air strike.

 A 13-year-old Palestinian boy was killed as militants clashed with Israeli soldiers in Gaza on Thursday.

  Flare-ups in violence in and around Gaza are frequent, says the BBC’s Jon Donnison in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

 Periods of calm rarely last for long, our correspondent says.

 A spokesman for the Hamas militants threatened to respond to Saturday’s shelling.

 “Targeting civilians is a dangerous escalation that cannot be tolerated. The resistance has the full right to respond to the “Israeli” crimes,” Fawzi Barhoum said in a text message sent to reporters, the Associated Press news agency reports.