IDF launches airstrike against gunmen in northern Gaza
Forces spot cell near border fence by Beit Hanoun during night, no report on state of casualties as of far. Earlier on Thursday IDF troops kill three Hamas operatives preparing to launch Qassam rockets towards Israel
IDF forces targeted a cell of Palestinian gunmen in northern Gaza in the early hours of Saturday morning. The cell had been spotted advancing along the border fence near the town of Beit Hanoun.
IAF aircraft targeted the cell a short while afterwards and reported they had identified hitting their mark.
No reports have been received regarding the Palestinian casualties thus far.
A reported 14 Palestinians were killed in Gaza on Thursday in a series of clashes and incidents. Massive barrages - than 50 mortar shells and 25 Qassam rockets - rained on Israel’s southern communities in the vicinity of the Gaza Strip, wounding one Israeli woman in Kibbutz Yad Mordechai.
Among those killed are three Hamas operatives the IDF struck near the town of Jabaliya in the northern part of the Strip. According to reports, the airstrike was aimed at an intelligence-gathering outpost belonging to the organization. The army confirmed forces had attacked but said the target had been a cell preparing to launch Qassam rockets.
Seven Palestinians were killed after a large explosion destroyed a building in Beit Lahiya, among them an infant girl and young boy. Dozens more were wounded in the incident, which the Palestinians initially claimed was an IAF strike.
The army denied the claims and officials estimated the explosion was the result of a ‘work accident’ – the premature detonation of explosives.
Later in the day the military wing of Hamas, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, confirmed its men had been preparing for a large-scale terror attack when the explosion took place.
The others killed in the ‘work accident,’ according to the movement’s statement, were fighters belonging to a special unit charged with carrying out terror attacks.
