Sayeret
03-21-2004, 01:19 PM
As part of its ongoing counter-terrorist operations in the Gaza Strip, the IDF today raided the village of Abassan, just east of Khan Yunis, in an attempt to arrest terrorists. According to Palestinian reports, six people, including four members of the same family, were killed in the ensuing clashes. Israeli military officials said a Hamas fugitive exploded just after he was shot, indicating that he was apparently wearing an explosives belt.
Israeli forces from the Golani Brigade, as well as armored and engineering units, entered the southern Gaza village just before dawn today as part of the continued efforts targeting terrorist infrastructure launched in the wake of last Sunday's double suicide bombing attack in Ashdod, in which ten Israelis were murdered at the city's port.
The Israeli troops spotted a wanted Hamas member, who attempted to escape arrest. The fugitive exploded when he was shot, the army said. "He was shot and blew up, perhaps because he was wearing a bomb belt. We believe a woman was also hurt in the blast," an army spokesman said.
Palestinian doctors disputed the Israeli account, saying the dead man suffered extensive bullet wounds but showed no signs of having been in an explosion, media sources reported.
According to a ******* report, the dead man was senior Hamas member Salem Qudeh. Qudeh's 34-year-old wife Sana'a was also killed in the blast. Medical sources had earlier misidentified the woman as Qudeh's mother, the report said.
At least three of the dead were armed men, and three others were bystanders, ******* reported. The IDF could not confirm the other deaths, but said there were no casualties to Israeli troops, which withdrew from the area at the end of the operation by mid-morning.
The Khan Yunis raid was part of the IDF's "Operation Ongoing Story." On Friday, troops raided the neighborhood of Bakshi near the Gaza Strip settlement of Netzarim. During the operation, troops arrested two wanted Hamas members. The soldiers demolished the homes of the two men's families, Haaretz reported. Six Palestinians were reportedly wounded in clashes with the Israeli troops.
During the operation, four soldiers were lightly wounded when a large bomb was detonated under their Merkava tank, flipping it over.
"It was a large explosion. It caused the tank to overturn. There was damage," an IDF spokeswoman said. The army estimated that the bomb contained 100-150 kilograms of explosives. Hamas's military wing Izzadin al-Kassam claimed responsibility for the bombing.
In addition, Fatima al-Jallad, 7, died on Saturday after reportedly being shot in the head by IDF gunfire while playing outside her home in the Khan Yunis refugee camp on Friday, Palestinian officials said. An IDF spokeswoman said that at the time of the shooting, troops had fired warning shots at two Palestinians who entered an off-limits buffer zone.
Israeli forces from the Golani Brigade, as well as armored and engineering units, entered the southern Gaza village just before dawn today as part of the continued efforts targeting terrorist infrastructure launched in the wake of last Sunday's double suicide bombing attack in Ashdod, in which ten Israelis were murdered at the city's port.
The Israeli troops spotted a wanted Hamas member, who attempted to escape arrest. The fugitive exploded when he was shot, the army said. "He was shot and blew up, perhaps because he was wearing a bomb belt. We believe a woman was also hurt in the blast," an army spokesman said.
Palestinian doctors disputed the Israeli account, saying the dead man suffered extensive bullet wounds but showed no signs of having been in an explosion, media sources reported.
According to a ******* report, the dead man was senior Hamas member Salem Qudeh. Qudeh's 34-year-old wife Sana'a was also killed in the blast. Medical sources had earlier misidentified the woman as Qudeh's mother, the report said.
At least three of the dead were armed men, and three others were bystanders, ******* reported. The IDF could not confirm the other deaths, but said there were no casualties to Israeli troops, which withdrew from the area at the end of the operation by mid-morning.
The Khan Yunis raid was part of the IDF's "Operation Ongoing Story." On Friday, troops raided the neighborhood of Bakshi near the Gaza Strip settlement of Netzarim. During the operation, troops arrested two wanted Hamas members. The soldiers demolished the homes of the two men's families, Haaretz reported. Six Palestinians were reportedly wounded in clashes with the Israeli troops.
During the operation, four soldiers were lightly wounded when a large bomb was detonated under their Merkava tank, flipping it over.
"It was a large explosion. It caused the tank to overturn. There was damage," an IDF spokeswoman said. The army estimated that the bomb contained 100-150 kilograms of explosives. Hamas's military wing Izzadin al-Kassam claimed responsibility for the bombing.
In addition, Fatima al-Jallad, 7, died on Saturday after reportedly being shot in the head by IDF gunfire while playing outside her home in the Khan Yunis refugee camp on Friday, Palestinian officials said. An IDF spokeswoman said that at the time of the shooting, troops had fired warning shots at two Palestinians who entered an off-limits buffer zone.