GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip, December 01, SPA -- An Israeli air strike killed five Palestinian fighters early Saturday in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian witnesses and officials said. Moaiya Hassanain, of the Gaza Health Ministry, said eightothers were wounded in the strike, including one incritical condition. Hamas officials said the dead belonged to their militarywing, while many of the injured belonged to the PopularResistance Committees, a smaller militant group allied toHamas. Hamas officials said the men were on a night patroleast of Khan Younis, a town in the southern Gaza Strip. The army said it carried out the strike after identifyingarmed men near its border with Gaza, according to a report of the Associated Press.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/504907