IDF kills 4 Palestinians in Gaza
Forces operating in southern Strip fire at several militants; Palestinians report one killed, three injured; Givati regiment commander lightly injured. Two other gunmen, 14-year-old boy die in IAF strike
Palestinian medical source reported that a Hamas member were killed in the incident, another was critically injured and and two Islamic Jihad men were also hurt. Two Palestinians were killed in the northern Strip several hours later.
It was later reported that a 14-year-old boy was killed by IDF fire while riding his bicycle.
Several mortar shells were fired at the soldiers during the operation. A Givati regiment commander, an officer at the rank of lieutenant-colonel, was lightly injured by shrapnel. The commander refused to be evacuated to hospital and continued the fighting along with his soldiers.
Givati, armor and engineering forces are taking part in the southern Gaza operation.
In a separate incident, an Israel Air Force aircraft attacked and hit a group of gunmen. A third strike left two Palestinians killed and several injured, after an Israel Air Force aircraft reportedly fired missiles at a group of gunmen in northern Gaza.
The rocket fire from the Gaza Strip continued Tuesday evening. Three Qassam rockets landed within the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council, one of them falling inside a moshav. There were no reports of injuries or damage in all incidents.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday visited the small community of Yesha, where 70-year-old Kibbutz Gvaram resident Shuli Katz was killed less than 24 hours earlier by a Qassam rocket fired from Gaza.
"It won't take another eight years, perhaps even less than a year, but the reality (in southern Israel) won't change tomorrow," Barak said during the visit.
Ali Waked contributed to this report
