Report: IDF kills 2 Hamas gunmen in Gaza
Israeli army attacks vehicle transporting Qassam rockets in Sajaiya area Friday night. Sources in Strip report at least two Hamas members killed, two injured. On Saturday morning, rocket lands near yeshiva in Sderot; no injuries reported
At least two Hamas members were killed and two others were injured Friday night during an IDF operation in the Gaza Strip's Sajaiya area, Palestinian sources reported Saturday. Army officials reported that a vehicle transporting Qassam rockets was attacked in the same area.
IDF forces also operated in the northern Gaza Strip town of Jabalya on Friday night. Several Palestinian gunmen were hurt during the military activity.
On Saturday morning, Palestinian gunmen launched three Qassam rockets from the northern Gaza Strip into Israel.
The Color Red alert system was activated following the first launch, and a rocket landed near a hesder yeshiva (program which combines advanced Talmudic studies with IDF service) in the southern town of Sderot. There were no reports of injuries.
Sderot municipality's security officer, Yehuda Ben-Maman, reported that the rocket hit an open area.
Shortly afterwards, two rockets landed inside the Shaar Hanegev regional council – one near an educational center and the other in an open area. There were no reports of injuries or damage in these incidents as well.
More than 30 Qassam rockets were fired into Israel on Friday. There were no injuries. Some of the rockets landed near a nursery in Sderot, causing great panic. Internal Security Minister visited the city Friday morning, and met with residents who expressed their harsh feelings over the situation.
A Palestinian woman was killed Friday and 15 other people were injured in the Gaza Strip in a series of Israel Air Force strikes in the area. According to the Palestinians, the IDF bombed the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry in Gaza.
The army also attacked a Hamas naval post in the southern Strip and a number of targets in Beit Hanoun. A Palestinian was killed and two others were injured during an attack on a Qassam launching cell near the Jabalya refugee camp.
UN chief calls for end to rocket attacks
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday accused Gaza's Hamas rulers of trying to destroy the Palestinian dream of statehood, saying the Islamist group's violent takeover of the coastal strip last June "destroyed and tries to destroy our dreams, future and national aspirations".
He reiterated his demand that Hamas relinquish control of Gaza.
Abbas, who spoke while attending Christmas celebrations of Armenian Christians in biblical Bethlehem, Jesus' traditional birthplace, also denounced Israel's ongoing military strikes in Gaza as "brutal".
"In these days, we can only condemn gravely what happens in our cherished Gaza, this brutal attack on this cherished part of our land, every hour, which targets women, children and elderly," Abbas said.
Meanwhile, The International Committee of the Red Cross called on Israel and the Palestinians to respect international law and stop harming civilians.
Christoph Harnisch, head of the organization's delegation to Israel and the Palestinian territories, said in a statement he was "in daily contact with the Israeli army and Palestinian armed factions in an effort to persuade them to respect the civilian population".
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday called "for an immediate cessation of Palestinian sniper and rocket attacks into Israel, and for maximum restraint on the part of the Israel Defense Forces," spokeswoman Michel Montas said in a statement.
Ban urged Israel to end the closure, saying it cut off the population from fuel supplies needed to pump water and generate electricity for homes and hospitals.
"The closure will also cause further shortages of food, medical and relief items in the Gaza Strip," he said.
Hanan Greenberg, Tova Dadon and news agencies contributed to this report
