Israel Matzav

Gaza Strip heating up; 11 'Palestinians' killed

The Gaza Strip is heating up with eleven 'Palestinians' killed and forty wounded in clashes this morning with the IDF. One of those killed was one Ra'ad Fanuna, a high-ranking Islamic Jihad terrorist, who got his 72 virgins by means of a missile shot at his car in Gaza City. He was implicated in manufacturing and shooting Kassam rockets at the Negev. The IDF has not confirmed the airstrike, but the picture above purports to be 'Palestinians' who are 'inspecting' his car (indoors? no kids?). The 'Palestinians' are also claiming that one child human shield was killed. The IDF denies the claim:

The IDF reported that during operations near Karni crossing Wednesday, IAF aircraft fired at a group of armed Palestinian operatives who were headed towards IDF troops. According to reports some of the gunmen were killed.

Earlier, troops from the Givati infantry brigade, backed by tanks and armored vehicles, swept into the southern Gaza Strip under cover from attack helicopters and took up positions on the outskirts of Khan Yunis.

As the troops entered the Palestinian territory, they encountered fierce resistance and came under gunfire and anti-tank fire. No soldiers were wounded in the clashes. The IDF said that it shot and killed at least two armed Palestinians in Khan Yunis.

In related news, Hamas radio reported that Israel had carried out an airstrike on a vehicle in Gaza City. According to the report, Ra'ad Fanuna, a high-ranking Islamic Jihad operative implicated in manufacturing Kassam rockets and firing them at the western Negev, was killed in the blast. The IDF would not confirm having carried out an airstrike in Gaza City.

Palestinians also reported four people killed, one of them a child, by a tank shell in the Gaza City neighborhood of Sajaya. The IDF denied the report.

The army would confirm, however, that it had killed one Palestinian gunman in operations near the Karni crossing, adding that the objective of the operations was to uncover terror infrastructure and tunnels being dug into Israel.

Does this mean we can finally clean the terrorists out of Gaza? Haaretz adds:

Eight Palestinians were killed, at least six of them militants, in an IDF raid east of Gaza City, including senior Islamic Jihad militant Raed Fanuna.

Two IDF soldiers were lightly wounded in the operation when their tank was hit by an anti-tank rocket.

The additional militants killed in the raid were identified as 29-year-old Sami Manasra and Yussuf Manasra of Islamic Jihad, 27-year-old Nafez Hilas and 18-year-old Ahmed Hilas of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, and 25-year-old Anan Al-Ararir of Hamas.

According to Palestinian sources, Hazem Jundiya, 25, and Wadib Jundiya, 9, were also killed in the fighting.

The army said, however, that all those killed were armed militants.

In a separate raid near the southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis, troops killed Diya Abu Daka of Islamic Jihad and Hussam Abu Ataima of Hamas.

In addition, 25-year-old Hamas militant Mahmoud A-Sha'ar was killed and several others wounded in an explosion in the area. It is unclear, however, whether the explosion was the result of IDF fire, or was a "work accident" caused by militants mishandling explosives.

YNet adds:

An Islamic Jihad member said Fanuneh was a senior commander in the group’s rocket unit and was arrested in the past by the IDF and the Palestinian Authority.

“This is a major blow for us,” he said. Israeli military officials denied that the gunman was killed from the air.

The al-Quds Brigades, Islamic Jihad’s armed wing, said it would launch a terror attack in Israel in retaliation.

Faster, faster!

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:17 PM