Israeli army troops arrested scores of Palestinians during an
incursion into southern Gaza city of Kahn Younis Tuesday afternoon,
hours after the killing of four people in the offensive.
The Israeli operation started at midnight are still going on as
the Israeli helicopters fired at a group of Islamic Jihad (Holy
War) militants in al-Qarara neighborhood of eastern Khan Younis
this afternoon, wounding three of them, local residents said.
They added that Israeli army took away tens of residents for
interrogation amid the operation.
Witnesses said the detainees were moved by trucks towards the
Israeli territories.
So far, the operation has killed four Palestinians, including two
Hamas militants.
Mourners carry the
body of Ibraheem al-Shami, a member of Fatah movement who was
killed by Israeli troops, in the southern Gaza strip August 14,
2007.
The first casualty was recorded three hours after
midnight when helicopter gunships killed a Hamas militant.
The Israeli sniper gunfire led to the other three deaths,
including another Hamas member and his mother.
Meanwhile, a number of injuries were left bleeding as the heavy
Israeli fire prevented the ambulances from reaching them, said the
witnesses.
Israeli operation in Gaza encountered the resistance from the
Palestinian militant groups, including Hamas, the Popular
Resistance Committees (PRC) and a Fatah military wing.
Hamas, which seized Gaza after defeating rival Fatah in June,
said in a statement that its members fired a rocket propelled
grenade on an Israeli tank "and hit it directly."
The PRC said in a separate statement that its sniper targeted an
Israeli soldier "and the soldier was seen falling from the tank on
his face."
In a third statement, Fatah's al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said two
of its members were injured during their armed clashes with an
Israeli special force.
(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2007)
