Palestinian sources said a 65-year-old man was killed Thursday as clashes between militants and Israel Defense Forces soldiers continued in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanun.

Later Thursday morning three Qassam rockets hit the western Negev. There were no reports of injuries, but some damage was caused to underground cables.

The IDF Home Front Command ordered the closure of most schools in the western Negev due to the rocket fire, Israel Radio reported. The orders permit classes to be held only in classrooms that are specially reinforced to protect against a rocket strike.

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Eight additional Palestinians, members of the same family, were hurt Thursday when they were struck by an IDF shell in Beit Hanun, Palestinian sources said.

According to the IDF, the purpose of the Beit Hanun operation is to disrupt and prevent the launching of Qassam rockets into Israel.

The IDF is expected to continue operating in Beit Hanun for several days, and was instructed Wednesday by the security cabinet to prepare for a large-scale operation in the Gaza Strip.

IDF soldier, eight Palestinians killed in Beit Hanun on Wed.
An IDF soldier and eight Palestinians were killed Wednesday in the IDF operation in Beit Hanun, as militants in Gaza pelted the western Negev with Qassam rockets.

IDF infantry troops and armored vehicles entered Beit Hanun before dawn, sparking heavy exchanges of fire with Palestinian gunmen.

The slain IDF soldier was identified as Staff Sergeant Kiril Golenshein, 21, of Shekef. Golenshein, a member of the IDF canine unit, was killed when IDF forces came under fire from Palestinian gunmen as they approached a home in the area. His death was the third IDF fatality in the Gaza Strip since Gilad Shalit was kidnapped in late June.

His funeral will take place Thursday at 4:30 P.M. at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem.

The IDF carried out three aerial attacks against armed gunmen approaching the forces and planting explosives in the area. In one incident, forces fired at two gunmen who had fired anti-tank missiles at the soldiers. A second strike targeted an armed gunman who was approaching the IDF troops, and another targeted a group of armed militants who were placing an explosive device near the troops. Fourteen Palestinian militant groups took responsibility for attacking IDF troops.

At least five of the eight Palestinians killed were identified as militants. Over 50 Palestinians were wounded in the operation, including a woman and an 11-year-old boy, Palestinian officials said.

Witnesses said an Israel Air Force strike in Beit Hanun killed one Palestinian and wounded three others. Palestinian security sources earlier Wednesday said a Palestinian policeman and two gunmen, including one from Hamas, were killed in a separate strike. Sources identified the slain policeman as Mohammed Zuweidi.

Three other Hamas gunmen were killed by tank fire and in clashes, witnesses said. Palestinians said the dead included the bodyguard of a Hamas cabinet minister and Hamas members Hussam Abu Hirbid, Ahmed Shaadat, 18, Tareq Nasser, 22, and Islamic Jihad member Mohammed al-Masri. Palestinian National Security member Mohammed Zweidi, Khalil Hamed, 24, and Ahmed Adwan, 21, were also killed.

Hospital officials in northern Gaza warned that the death toll could rise because IDF troops had blocked access to a building where an undetermined number of additional wounded were situated.

Despite the raid, Palestinian militants in Gaza fired at least nine Qassam rockets at the western Negev Wednesday. Three of the rockets landed in Sderot, spraying shrapnel and wounding a young boy.

Meanwhile, the security cabinet, which met Wednesday in Jerusalem, agreed that the IDF should proceed with preparations for an expansion of its offensive in the Gaza Strip, and that the current operation should continue.

The operation is the largest IDF incursion into the Strip since the June 25 abduction of IDF Corporal Gilad Shalit.

The IDF confirmed Wednesday that troops were still operating in Beit Hanun, and that the operation's goal was to disrupt and prevent the launching of Qassam rockets into Israel. According to the IDF, 300 rockets have been fired at Israel from the town since the start of the year.