Israel says Hamas targeting troops, civilians near Gaza

Hamas is stepping up efforts to attack Israeli civilians and soldiers near the Gaza security fence. The statement from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) came after troops killed eight Palestinians and an Arab-Israeli boy in the West Bank and Gaza over the weekend. Israel says Hamas targeting troops, civilians near Gaza Palestinian sources told Ha'aretz that the organization was using other Gaza militant groups to escalate hostilities with Israel and close down the Erez Crossing in the northern Gaza Strip. Israel Defense Forces troops pursued and shot dead two armed militants Saturday after the men got past the security fence around the Gaza Strip and opened fire on an IDF post. One soldier was lightly wounded in the ensuing shootout, the IDF Spokesman said. On Sunday IDF troops arrested six unarmed Palestinians also attempting to infiltrate Israel from northern Gaza. Both militants in Saturday's infiltration, who were carrying weapons and explosives, apparently belonged to the Popular Resistance Committees, an independent militant group inspired by Lebanon's Hezbollah. They were planning an attack on a nearby Israeli community. Sources in the Palestinian Authority say Hamas sponsored the attack in order to get Israel to close the Erez Crossing. Hamas wanted to prevent a group of Palestinian students from passing through the crossing, a move the Palestinian Authority's Fatah leadership coordinated with Israel without consulting Hamas, the sources said. Hamas authorized the smaller Popular Resistance Committees and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine to carry out the attack because it feared its rival, Fatah, might present the opening of the Erez crossing as an achievement, they said. According to the sources, Hamas is increasing its efforts to fire mortar rounds at IDF forces around Gaza and Qassam rockets at Israeli towns in the northern Negev. An initial military investigation suggested the militants climbed the fence using ropes near the Erez crossing. They managed to steal unnoticed past IDF watch towers, possibly due to hazy conditions that limited visibility. A third militant, possibly from the Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, may have entered Israel with them and returned to Gaza unharmed. Military sources said the troops who killed the militants acted swiftly and effectively. The Golani Brigade arrested two Palestinians from Gaza suspected of aiding the infiltrators. A spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees in Gaza confirmed that one of its gunmen, Mohammed Sakr, and another from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Khader Awkal, were killed in a "martyrdom operation against the Zionist entity" targeting the Israeli community of Nativ Ha'asara, near the Gaza border. "The occupying forces do not distinguish between civilians and soldiers, and neither do the Popular Resistance Committees," the spokesman said. In the West Bank city of Jenin, forces from the IDF and Border Police killed senior Islamic Jihad militant Ala Abu al-Said and another operative, Mustafa Atik, in a joint operation Saturday. The forces killed a third operative in the shootout, and wounded several others. On Friday, Border Police officers killed an 11-year-old Israeli boy from the Negev community of Rahat, who was visiting his mother's family near Tul Karm, in the West Bank. One wanted Islamic Jihad militant was killed in the raid, and a second was seriously wounded. The IDF took him for treatment at an Israeli hospital. Relatives said Mahmoud Ibrahim Karnawi lived in Rahat with his parents. Palestinian witnesses said he was shot in a gunfight that broke out as IDF troops approached the family's home in order to arrest his older half-brother, a wanted Islamic Jihad militant. Neighbors said the boy was inside the house at the time of the shooting, and was hit in the crossfire. Hospital officials confirmed the death. Tariq Mulham, the slain Islamic Jihad militant, was not related to the boy, Palestinian sources said. The IDF said its forces were shot at during an operation, sparking an exchange of fire, which wounded a Border Police officer. The army said it was investigating whether the Israeli boy was killed by Palestinian or IDF fire. Meanwhile, in Gaza, soldiers killed two armed Palestinians who shot at them near the border fence, north of the Karni crossing. The Golani Brigade soldiers briefly crossed into the Gaza Strip, where they shot and killed the two men - Hamam Nasser, 18, and Mustafa Nasser, 17. No soldiers were wounded.

Israel says Hamas targeting troops, civilians near Gaza

Palestinian sources told Ha'aretz that the organization was using other Gaza militant groups to escalate hostilities with Israel and close down the Erez Crossing in the northern Gaza Strip.

Israel Defense Forces troops pursued and shot dead two armed militants Saturday after the men got past the security fence around the Gaza Strip and opened fire on an IDF post. One soldier was lightly wounded in the ensuing shootout, the IDF Spokesman said.

On Sunday IDF troops arrested six unarmed Palestinians also attempting to infiltrate Israel from northern Gaza.

Both militants in Saturday's infiltration, who were carrying weapons and explosives, apparently belonged to the Popular Resistance Committees, an independent militant group inspired by Lebanon's Hezbollah. They were planning an attack on a nearby Israeli community.

Sources in the Palestinian Authority say Hamas sponsored the attack in order to get Israel to close the Erez Crossing.

Hamas wanted to prevent a group of Palestinian students from passing through the crossing, a move the Palestinian Authority's Fatah leadership coordinated with Israel without consulting Hamas, the sources said.

Hamas authorized the smaller Popular Resistance Committees and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine to carry out the attack because it feared its rival, Fatah, might present the opening of the Erez crossing as an achievement, they said.

According to the sources, Hamas is increasing its efforts to fire mortar rounds at IDF forces around Gaza and Qassam rockets at Israeli towns in the northern Negev.

An initial military investigation suggested the militants climbed the fence using ropes near the Erez crossing. They managed to steal unnoticed past IDF watch towers, possibly due to hazy conditions that limited visibility.

A third militant, possibly from the Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, may have entered Israel with them and returned to Gaza unharmed.

Military sources said the troops who killed the militants acted swiftly and effectively.

The Golani Brigade arrested two Palestinians from Gaza suspected of aiding the infiltrators.

A spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees in Gaza confirmed that one of its gunmen, Mohammed Sakr, and another from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Khader Awkal, were killed in a "martyrdom operation against the Zionist entity" targeting the Israeli community of Nativ Ha'asara, near the Gaza border.

"The occupying forces do not distinguish between civilians and soldiers, and neither do the Popular Resistance Committees," the spokesman said.

In the West Bank city of Jenin, forces from the IDF and Border Police killed senior Islamic Jihad militant Ala Abu al-Said and another operative, Mustafa Atik, in a joint operation Saturday.

The forces killed a third operative in the shootout, and wounded several others.

On Friday, Border Police officers killed an 11-year-old Israeli boy from the Negev community of Rahat, who was visiting his mother's family near Tul Karm, in the West Bank.

One wanted Islamic Jihad militant was killed in the raid, and a second was seriously wounded. The IDF took him for treatment at an Israeli hospital.

Relatives said Mahmoud Ibrahim Karnawi lived in Rahat with his parents. Palestinian witnesses said he was shot in a gunfight that broke out as IDF troops approached the family's home in order to arrest his older half-brother, a wanted Islamic Jihad militant.

Neighbors said the boy was inside the house at the time of the shooting, and was hit in the crossfire. Hospital officials confirmed the death. Tariq Mulham, the slain Islamic Jihad militant, was not related to the boy, Palestinian sources said.

The IDF said its forces were shot at during an operation, sparking an exchange of fire, which wounded a Border Police officer. The army said it was investigating whether the Israeli boy was killed by Palestinian or IDF fire.

Meanwhile, in Gaza, soldiers killed two armed Palestinians who shot at them near the border fence, north of the Karni crossing.

The Golani Brigade soldiers briefly crossed into the Gaza Strip, where they shot and killed the two men - Hamam Nasser, 18, and Mustafa Nasser, 17. No soldiers were wounded.