Fatah gunmen in Jenin (Archive)
Photo: AP
IDF kills 5 gunmen in Gaza, 2 near Jenin
Five gunmen killed by soldiers near Gaza border fence after opening fire at force; two armed Palestinians killed in gunfight with IDF in course of arrest raid in village near Jenin
Five Palestinian gunmen, all members of the Popular Resistance Committees' military wing – the Salah al-Din Brigades, were killed Wednesday during a gunfight with IDF soldiers near the border fence in the central part of Gaza. An IDF soldier was moderately injured in the incident.
Palestinian sources reported that several other Palestinians were wounded. Islamic Jihad's military wing, the al-Quds Brigades, claimed responsibility for the shooting.
In a separate incident, two armed Palestinians were killed in gunabttle with an IDF force in a village near Jenin Tuesday night, eyewitnesses reported.
According sources in Jenin, gunmen opened fire at an IDF force that entered a village near Jenin accompanied by a military bulldozer. Ziad Balasha, an al-Quds Brigades commander and Ibrahim al-Abed, an al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades member, were killed in the incident.
The IDF reported that fire was opened at the soldiers on several occasions during an arrest raid in the village, and that an explosive device was hurled at their direction. In the course of the operation, the soldiers spotted two gunmen, shot at them and killed them.
Two M-16 rifles, a pistol and some ammunition were found on the men's bodies, the IDF said.
Hanan Greenberg contributed to the report
