Earlier today an Israeli air strike in Gaza killed as many as nine Palestinians including two children. According to the Israeli newspaper seven of the dead were civilians and two were members of the militant group Islamic Jihad. The Israel Defense Forces claimed that the militants were on their way to fire rockets at Israel. Yasser Abed Rabbo, of the Palestinian Legislative Council condemned the Israeli missile strike: “This is an attempt by Israel to create the cycle of violence and to attract retaliation from the Palestinian armed group. We think that this cycle of violence is not in the interest of any party.”