Elite Israeli occupation soldiers crossed the border into Gaza on Sunday in a civilian car in a special operation to assassinate Hamas commander prompting an exchange of fire between Zionist soldiers and the Palestinian resistance.
According to Hamas resistance group, the Israeli unit was unmasked, prompting air forces to come to its aid and extract the troops from the territory.
Hamas’s military wing confirmed the assassination of commander Qassam Brigades Nour Barakah by Israeli special forces three kilometers from the Gaza border.
The Israeli squad became exposed after taking out Barakah and was forced to retreat back to the other side of the fence under the cover of aerial bombardment, the statement from the military wing said on Twitter.
Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza identified the casualties in the exchange of fire that followed Baraka’s assassination as: Nouriddin Salama, 37, Mohammad al-Qarra, 23, Alaa Qweeder, 22, Mustafa abu-Odeh, 21, and Mahmoud Musabbeh, 25.
Israeli Website Walla admitted that a Zionist soldier was killed and another was seriously injured after clashes between the Palestinian resistance and an Israeli occupation force east of Khan Younis. The resistance group also fired projectiles towards the occupied territories driving Zionist authorities to impose restrictions on Israeli schools, work near Gaza.
Rocket sirens have sounded half a dozen times since the outbreak of fighting, Israeli media said.
The Israeli army confirmed a fire exchange took place, with local reports in Gaza saying that Israeli planes fired at the open area near the place of the incident.
“IDF operated in the Gaza Strip, exchange of gunfire ensued. All IDF soldiers back in Israel. Several alarms have sounded in Southern Israel. More to follow,” said Zionist spokesman Jonathan Conricus.
The Interior Ministry in Gaza said in an official statement earlier that members of Hamas group were martyred and wounded in the incident, which took place east of Khan Younes. Security forces in Gaza announced a state of high alert.
Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is visiting in Paris, held consultations on the topic while the Zionist War Minister Avigdor Lieberman is holding consultations at the military headquarters in Tel Aviv. Officials in Netanyahu’s office said he is cutting his Paris visit short and will return tonight instead of Monday morning, due to the intense Gaza incidents.
Netanyahu said earlier on Sunday that there is “No political solution exists for Gaza, just as there isn’t one with ISIL” and that he is doing everything he can to avoid “unnecessary war.”
Source: Al-Manar Website
