IDF operations in Gaza to foil tunnel/kidnapping attempt

The enthusiasm for liberating Gilad Shalit and the high price Israel was willing to pay no doubt whetted the appetite of the Hamas and their allies for more Gilad Shalits. The Hezbollah swap deal is already paying its blood dividends.

 

This is the value of the "lull" with Hamas.

 

According to other reports, IDF found out about the tunnel by accident, after arresting a different Palestinian who was trying to carry out a suicide bombing in the framework of the "lull."

 

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Last update - 23:28 04/11/2008       
IDF kills Hamas man in first raid since Gaza truce
By Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondent, and News Agencies

 

Israeli troops killed a Hamas gunman and wounded two others on Tuesday in the first armed clash in the Gaza Strip since a ceasefire was declared in the territory in June, Palestinian medics said.

 

An Israeli army spokeswoman said troops had entered the territory to destroy a tunnel which Gaza militants had dug under the border to try to abduct soldiers.

 

According to Palestinian sources, the troops entered the area east of Deir el-Balah and carried out an operation at a house belonging to the Abu Hamam family.
 
An exchange of fire took place between the troops and Hamas gunmen.

 

Six mortar shells were also reportedly fired at Israel from Gaza.

 

"Qassam fighters are engaging in violent armed clashes with a Zionist (Israeli) force that raided east of central Gaza Strip," a Hamas statement said.

 

Palestinian residents in the area of the al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip reported seeing Israeli soldiers about 300 meters inside Gaza.

 

They also reported hearing shots fired from Israeli military vehicles positioned on the Israeli side of the border fence and the buzz of unmanned drones overhead.

 

The residents said Hamas gunmen had responded by firing at the troops. Residents said that one of the Israeli drones fired a missile into the area where the firing had occurred.

 

Palestinian medical workers said three gunmen were wounded by shrapnel from the Israeli missile.

 

An Egypt-brokered cease-fire agreement between Israel and the Gaza Strip was signed earlier this year, and went into effect on June 19.

 

Gaza militants have occasionally launched makeshift rockets into southern Israel in violation of the ceasefire and this has prompted Israel to temporarily close its borders with Gaza in response.

 

Hamas had agreed to halt rocket attacks in return for the gradual lifting of a blockade Israel imposed on the Gaza Strip two years ago.