Israeli forces kill four in Gaza, say they hit rocket launch site

CAIRO/DUBAI, Jan 08 (Reuters): Israeli forces killed at least four Palestinians in two separate strikes in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, hours after the military said it had hit the site of a failed militant rocket launch, the latest violence to jeopardise the ceasefire.

Medics said an Israeli airstrike killed at least three people and wounded three others, including children, in a tent in the western area of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Another strike killed a person east of the city, near where Israeli forces operate.

Israel's military said on Thursday it had carried out a targeted strike on a rocket launch site near Gaza City after identifying a failed launch, as questions mount over when the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire will begin.

The military said the projectile did not cross into Israeli territory and that the launch site was struck shortly after the attempt was detected.

It accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire twice in the past 24 hours. A source from the Palestinian militant group told Reuters it was checking the allegation.

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Spanish PM open to sending troops

to maintain peace 'in Palestine'

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Thursday he was prepared to deploy troops to "Palestine" for peacekeeping "when the opportunity presents itself".

"I will propose to parliament, when the opportunity presents itself, that we send peacekeeping troops to Palestine, once we can see how to advance this task of pacification," he told a gathering of Spanish ambassadors in Madrid. "Of course, we have not forgotten Palestine and the Gaza Strip... Spain must actively participate in rebuilding hope in Palestine.