IDF raids Rafah tunnels; 8 Palestinians killed

[Gość: AIYSHA]

IDF raids Rafah tunnels; 8 Palestinians killed
By MARGOT DUDKEVITCH

Eight Palestinians were killed and 42 wounded during an IDF incursion into
Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip to find tunnels used to smuggle weapons
from Egypt to the Palestinians, Palestinian sources said. There were no
injuries to IDF troops.

One of those killed, Ahmed Majar, 32, was a Palestinian police officer
heading to his job at the Rafah border crossing when he was shot in the
head, his family said.

Another was Ala Bakhloul, a 23-year-old shot twice in the stomach, hospital
officials said.

According to the Palestinians, three of those killed were civilians.

At the funeral for five of those killed, the sounds of mourning mixed with
the roar of gunfire and tanks moving as the incursion continued.

Givati forces and armored units backed by IAF helicopter support entered the
city late Monday night after two Givati officers were killed at the Kissufim
crossing.

The IDF Spokesman said that during the ongoing operation a number of bombs
were detonated near troops and scores of grenades thrown at soldiers.

Soldiers reported hitting four Palestinians spotted placing bombs near IDF
troops. Palestinians identified one of the dead as Khamis Al Rai, 28.

Troops have so far uncovered one weapons tunnel and have destroyed it.

Two IDF officers of the Givati Brigade were killed and a border policeman
wounded in separate terrorist shootings in Hebron in the West Bank and in
the central Gaza Strip on Monday night.

Givati company commander Capt. Hagai Bibi, 24 of Ma'aleh Adumim and deputy
company commander Lt. Alex Leonardo Weisman, 23, of Afula were killed in the
attack at the Kissufim crossing on Monday night.

Hagai Bibi was buried Tuesday afternoon at Mt. Herzl military cemetery at
1.30pm.

Leonardo Alex Weismman will be buried at the Afula MIlitary cemetery at
3.30pm this afternoon.

Hours after the attacks, shots were fired at an Israeli vehicle traveling on
Road 6 between Nitzanei Oz and Sha'ar Ephraim. No one was wounded in the
attack.

Security forces deployed to the site closed the section of the road to
traffic and began searching for the perpetrators in order to determine if
the incident was an attempted terror attack or stray shots that were fired
from a nearby Arab village.

Shortly after 7 p.m., security forces were deployed to the Kissufim crossing
near the Gush Katif Junction, close to Kfar Darom after receiving reports
that an armed terrorist was spotted in the area. The troops got out of their
jeeps and began searching the area. As they spotted the terrorist, a
gunbattle erupted between the sides.

The gunman fired shots and threw grenades at the soldiers, mortally wounding
the two officers. One of the officers died on the spot and the second
succumbed to his wounds shortly afterwards.

Soldiers pursued the terrorist and shot and killed him. They continued
searching the area for a possible second Palestinian, part of routine
procedure carried out in such incidents. The Islamic Jihad and the Fatah Al
Aksa Martyrs Brigade later claimed joint responsibility for the attack.

Paramedic Yehuda Shoshan said that on hearing the reports three ambulances,
two bulletproof and one intensive care unit were deployed to the area. "The
bulletproof ambulances were dispatched to the scene, paramedics were forced
to pronounce the death of one of the soldiers at the site and attempted to
resuscitate the second soldier, transferring him to the intensive care unit
that waited at the crossing.

"Despite attempts to save him, he died shortly after. Both suffered a number
of gunshot wounds to vital areas," he said.

Eran Shternberg, spokesman for the Gaza Strip Regional Council said there
had been a sharp escalation in the number of shooting incidents along the
Kissufim road in recent weeks. A year ago, Rabbi Yitzhak Arama was murdered
in a terrorist shooting as he drove with his family on the Kissufim road.

Two months ago, three members of a family were lightly wounded when
terrorists shot at their vehicle on the Kissufim road. "At least 10
civilians and soldiers have been murdered on the Kissufim road," Shternberg
said.

Shortly after the attack in the Gaza Strip, a border policeman suffered
gunshot wounds to the legs and shoulder in a drive-by shooting on Road 160
that links the Machpela Cave in Hebron to Kiryat Arba. A family driving on
the opposite side of the road was also shot at, but no one was wounded.

Two bullets penetrated the police van in which the border policeman was
riding. He was taken to the western entrance to Kiryat Arba and from there
transferred by ambulance to Hadassah Hospital in Ein Kerem.

Security forces, together with Israel Police and trackers began searching
for the gunman, who fled towards the Harsinah neighborhood in Hebron. A
statement issued by the Hebron Jewish community said, "lately there has been
a noticeable increase in attempts by terrorists to perpetrate attacks on the
roads leading to the Machpela Cave.

Elsewhere in the region during the day, a number of mortar shells were fired
at an IDF base near an Israeli community in Gush Katif; no one was wounded
in the attack. Earlier, shots were fired at an IDF patrol near the security
fence that encompasses Gush Katif communities.

In the West Bank, undercover Border Police units arrested a Tanzim fugitive
in Jenin suspected of being involved in terror attacks. During the operation
shots were fired at the security forces who returned fire.

Shots were also fired at IDF soldiers deployed near Sanur; no one was
wounded and no damage reported. Early Monday morning, 13 Palestinian
fugitives were arrested by security forces in villages surrounding Ramallah
and Hebron.

The body of the second terrorist involved in the attack was found a short
while ago by Israeli soldiers. He wore tiger-striped jeans and had a
Kalashnikov rifle.

With The Associated Press