The army’s Autumn Clouds operation in Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip combating Qassam attacks continued for its third day Friday.
In the evening Palestinian sources in Beit Hanoun reported that a local mosque had been hit in an air-strike, killing one Palestinian and wounded a few more.
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Local residents reported that they counted three wounded. News agencies reported that the small building that was hit was known as the Abdullah Azzem Mosque and was used for Muslim prayers, but did not have the outward signs or markings of a mosque.
With that, a senior IDF officer emphasized that operations were expected to continue. “There are aims we defined for ourselves and have not yet achieved. Among others – locating weapons storage sheds and arresting more fugitives. We are continuing the operation according to plan. We have time,” he said.
The officer explained that forces were continuing to surround Beit Hanoun and were operating inside the city against fugitives and terror infrastructure. He noted that up until now 34 Palestinians were killed, only a few of whom were civilians who were killed when gunmen used them as cover.
Regarding Friday night’s incident, in which a number of gunmen took shelter in a mosque, the senior officer noted that a few were hit when the building was destroyed, but others managed to escape by mixing in with the civilian population. In the morning, IDF forces hit eight gunmen. Palestinians, however, reported that two women were killed in one of the confrontations in Beit Hanoun.
Meanwhile on Friday UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan issued a statement expressing concern over Israel's operations in Gaza.
The UN "urges Israel to exercise maximum restraint, do their utmost to protect civilians and to refrain from further escalating an already grave situation," the statement said. Annan also called on Palestinians to stop firing rockets against Israeli civilian targets.
Hanan Greenberg contributed to the report
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