Seven Palestinians were killed, one of them a senior member of the Al-Qassam Brigades. The Israeli occupation forces tried to kidnap him and wounded others in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israeli army admitted that one officer was killed and another wounded in the clashes.
The armed wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said that a special Israeli force infiltrated into the border area east of Khan Yunis with a depth of three kilometers, and assassinated the commander of the Qassam Brigades Nur Baraka.
And after the discovery of the order, and the members of the Qassam Brigades to chase and deal with, the intervention of Israeli warplanes, and carried out bombardments to cover the withdrawal of the force; which led to the fall of a number of martyrs and wounded.
Attempted abduction
The Israeli Channel 10 reported that the Israeli force tried to kidnap the leader of the Qassam Brigades Nur Baraka before killing him. Al-Jazeera correspondent in Jerusalem, Najwan Samri, said that Israeli observers were talking about the objective of the Israeli operation was not the assassination of the leader of the Qassam, but the kidnapping to get - perhaps - information from him.
A spokesman for the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement that six civilians were killed and seven others were wounded as a result of the occupation forces targeting the group east of Khan Yunis. The statement added that the martyrs were between the ages of 24 and 37 years.
| The seven martyrs range from 24 to 37 years (Anatolia) |
Officer killed
For his part, the Israeli army admitted the killing of an Israeli officer lieutenant colonel, and wounding another officer during the operation.
"During an operation of a special force in the Gaza Strip, an exchange of fire took place, one army officer was killed and another officer was moderately wounded," the army said in a statement.
For his part, the office of Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman announced that the latter presided over a security meeting to discuss these developments. On the impact, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to cut short a visit to Paris and return to Israel.
In turn, the IDF Home Front ordered all residents of the Gaza Strip to remain in protected areas and shelters. The Israeli army announced that 10 rockets had been fired from the Gaza Strip at Israeli towns adjacent to it.
Resistance vows
In the responses of the resistance factions in Gaza, Hamas leader Izzat al-Rishq said in a tweet on Twitter that the eye of the resistance does not sleep and dismantled the branches that responded to the sudden Zionist force, and all the salute to this able and vigilant resistance, which thwarted the enemy's plan.
For his part, said Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - in a statement - that the terrible crime against the heroic resistance reaffirms that the enemy knows only the language of murder and blood.
"The resistance is a safety valve to protect the land and the people," said a statement by Saraya al-Quds, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad.
Al-Quds Brigades announced the general state of alert for all its fighters and field units, and surrounded all areas and entrances of the Gaza Strip.