Last update - 00:00 28/03/2007
Two Gaza militants seriously hurt in IAF strike on Qassam launchers
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and The Associated Press
The Israel Air Force struck a group of militants preparing to fire Qassam rockets into Israel from the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, wounding four militants, two of them seriously.
According to military sources, troops identified three militants preparing to fire rockets into Israel, near the former settlement of Dugit along the beach in northern Gaza.
The strike marks the first time in several months in with the Israel Defense Forces has targeted Qassam-launching squad.
Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired seven Qassam rockets at Israel on Wednesday, Israel Radio reported. Two of the rockets landed in open areas near Ashkelon. No injuries were reported in either incident.
A third rocket identified from Gaza apparently landed on Palestinian territory. A fourth rocket landed in an agricultural field in the western Negev. It was not clear where the other three rockets landed.
In November of last year, as part of a Gaza Strip cease-fire agreement with the Palestinians, Israel announced it would halt military operations in the Gaza.
Several weeks later, due to ongoing rocket fire, the IDF altered its rules of engagement in order to permit troops to fire on militants who are clearly identified as preparing to launch rockets.
Earlier Wednesday, IDF troops shot and killed a Palestinian militant during an exchange of fire before dawn Wednesday in the West Bank town of Jenin, a militant group said.
The IDF said troops shot toward a group of armed men during an arrest operation in Jenin. The soldiers saw that one of the gunmen was hit, the army said.
The militant, a member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, was killed during an exchange of fire, the group said.
Palestinian militants are frequently killed during such IDFi arrest operations. Troops enter West Bank towns nightly to arrest suspected militants.
On Tuesday, IDF forces shot and killed two armed militants in central Nablus. The two were members of Fatah's military wing and had been suspected of involvement in shooting incidents, bombings and suicide bomber attacks.
The incident occured in the early morning hours, when a unit of the Golani Brigade identified two armed men, and exchanged fired with them. The two Palestinians were killed in the exchange. There were no IDF casualties.
The dead are Muhind Marish, 20, and Ala Gliz, 24. According to the IDF, both had been involved in shooting incidents against army forces in the Nablus area.
Among the attacks the two were involved in was the incident in Nablus when a bomb was thrown at an IDF force in July 2006, killing a soldier and injuring five others.
The same Fatah cell, whose members received funding and orders from Hezbollah in Lebanon, was responsible for dispatching a suicide bomber that carried out an attack on French Hill in Jerusalem in September 2004, killing two Border Policemen.