Several wounded as Israeli vehicle hits bomb
Israeli forces battled Palestinian gunmen in Gaza City today, killing at least three Palestinians, while nearby an Israeli vehicle rolled over a large bomb, wounding several people inside, witnesses and officials said.
During the intense fighting, an Israeli armoured car and bulldozer were targeted by a roadside bomb, Palestinian residents in the area said. An Israeli settler spokesman said several people in the vehicle were killed and wounded.
Israeli forces entered the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City before dawn exchanging fire with gunmen. Soldiers took up positions on three rooftops and surrounded one house. The army said its operation was aimed at the “terrorist infrastructure”.
Israeli bulldozers cut the coastal road, piling up sand barriers, witnesses said.
At least two Hamas militants were killed in the fighting. A third unidentified Palestinian was also killed, hospital officials said. At least 24 Palestinians were wounded.
Later, Palestinians detonated a roadside bomb at two armoured vehicles. Palestinian witnesses said a helicopter landed in the area to evacuate the wounded and dead.
The Hamas militant group said it blew up the armoured vehicle and then filmed several dead and wounded soldiers being evacuated from the area.
Hamas said it had targeted several armoured cars during fighting in the Zeitoun neighbourhood.
The Zeitoun neighbourhood, across from the isolated Jewish settlement of Netzarim, is known as a stronghold of Islamic militant groups.
Israeli forces frequently enter cities and towns in the Gaza Strip, trying to arrest or kill members of militant groups and destroy workshops where weapons, including crude mortars and rockets, are made.
Today’s military operation is the latest attack since Palestinian gunmen killed a pregnant Jewish settler and her four daughters in a shooting attack last week.
In another part of Gaza, several Israeli tanks and bulldozers entered the Rafah refugee camp and tore down a structure, residents said. Israeli forces often enter the camp, looking for tunnels used to smuggle arms from Egypt.
At least six Israeli soldiers were killed in the blast, pan-Arab television stations reported.
Quoting their correspondents in Gaza, the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya reported that Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad group, and the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, which is affiliated to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement, have claimed responsibility for the bombing. Both TV stations were monitored in Beirut.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on casualties.
| Related Stories: |
|
