Eight militants killed in clashes with Israeli troops
Israeli troops clashed with Hamas militants inside the Gaza Strip on today, killing eight in fierce fighting that drew in Israeli aircraft, tanks and bulldozers, and sent militants laying mines against troops.
It was the second-deadliest day of fighting between the two sides since the Islamic militant Hamas group wrested control of Gaza in mid-June. In all, more than 30 Palestinians – nearly all of them militants but including a 12-year-old boy – have been killed in at least five days of Israeli military operations in Gaza since the Hamas takeover.
Troops had ventured about half a mile inside central Gaza on a routine foray against rocket squads when airmen backing their patrol identified a group of approaching militants, the army said. The airmen opened fire on the Hamas fighters, sparking a shoot-out on the ground between militants and the patrol, the army said.
Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida said its fighters launched the clash by opening fire at an Israeli undercover unit.
Witnesses reported a heavy exchange of fire as Israeli tanks and bulldozers moved in, and soldiers took positions on rooftops. Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants hit back with small arms fire, laid mines against the soldiers and shot mortars at the Erez passenger crossing between Israel and Gaza.
Two of the mortars landed on the Israeli side of the passage, which has been closed to most traffic since Hamas wrested control of Gaza last month, the army said. No one was injured, but the mortars set off a fire in a road at the crossing, the army said.
Hospital officials said six militants were killed in the ground fighting, and Hamas said all belonged to its group. Among the dead was Mohammed Siam, 37, the Hamas field commander in central Gaza, Hamas TV said.
Israeli aircraft later dropped missiles at militant targets in the area, the army said. Hospital officials said two militants were killed in one of the airstrikes. Hamas said both were members.
The fighting took place close to the Bureij refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip, a site of frequent clashes between gunmen and the Israeli army. Israeli troops arrested 18 militants for interrogation, the army said. Detainees were led away, their eyes blindfolded with rags.
Elsewhere, along Gaza’s northern border with Israel, Hamas officials said some 15 tanks and three bulldozers had moved into Palestinian farms and were levelling the land. The army said it had no such vehicles in the area.
