GAZA CITY: Israeli airstrikes killed two Gaza fighters yesterday as they clashed with troops who crossed the border on the eve of a landmark visit by the Qatari emir, medical sources said.
The flareup provoked threats of revenge from the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the ruling Hamas movement, and a pledge from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that there would be no immunity for those firing on the Jewish state.
Two airstrikes took place around the northern town of Beit Hanun where fighters were firing mortar shells at an Israeli tank and several military vehicles that had crossed the border into Gaza territory, witnesses and security sources said.
The first strike hit north of Beit Hanun, critically wounding four Qassam Brigades militants, one of whom later died of his injuries, medics and the militant group said.
As the clashes continued, Israel launched a second air strike east of Beit Hanun, killing a militant from the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) and critically wounding another man, the same sources said.
The Qassam Brigades confirmed that the first strike had killed one of its militants and critically wounded another three, naming the dead man as Abderahman Abu Jalaleh, 25, and describing him as a local commander.
The second strike killed a PRC militant whom the group named as Yasser Al-Tarabin. The identity of the injured man was not immediately clear.
The flareup comes on the eve of a high-profile visit by the emir of Qatar to the Gaza Strip, the first such trip by an Arab head of state since Hamas took over the territory in 2007.
Hamas militants usually observe a de facto truce regarding Israeli targets, but the rare show of force against the military force appeared to be a direct response to the incursion.
“The Zionist enemy continues its crimes and arrogance against our land and people... because of its desire to blow up the situation,” the Qassam Brigades said.
“The enemy will not be able to tie our hands and his crime will not go unanswered.”
Netanyahu also issued a warning of his own.
“The real thing we have is rockets. We’ve got Hamas, supported by Iran, firing rockets at us.. We’re not going to let anyone arm themselves and fire rockets on us and think that they can do this with impunity. They’re not going to get away with it,” he said on meeting the Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair.
Israel kills 2 in Gaza on eve of Qatar emir’s visit
