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Palestinians reacting after the IDF killed 4 Hamas men in southern Gaza Tuesday. (Reuters)
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IDF strikes kill four Hamas men, wound 3 civilians in Gaza Strip
By Mijal Greenberg, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and Reuters
tags: Qassam, mortar, netiv haasara 

After Palestinians on Tuesday evening launched a barrage of mortar shells on a western Negev community, the Israel Defense Forces struck two targets in the Gaza Strip, killing four Hamas militants and wounding three civilians.

Four Hamas policemen were killed when the Israel Air Force shelled a Hamas police position in the southern Gaza Strip, the militant group and Palestinian hospital officials said.

The IDF confirmed the strike, saying the attack followed the firing of mortar shells by Hamas at Netiv Haasara, near the Gaza border. "We will continue to hit terrorist targets in Gaza," the military said.
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Islam Shahwan, a Hamas security spokesman, said the target was a location for Hamas riot police. Witnesses said the dead were in uniform.

"The Zionist enemy have been keeping an eye on the Palestinian people, and they decided to target a police station in Khan Yunis," he told Hamas radio.

Just before the strike in Abasan village, east of Khan Yunis, ground troops entered the Gaza Strip, fired a missile targeting a Qassam rocket cell and accidentally hit a home in Gaza City's Jabalya refugee camp. Three Palestinian civilians, including a very small girl, were wounded.

A military spokeswoman said IDF troops operating in the area fired at a Palestinian rocket crew but the missile flew off-target due to a "technical error."


The IDF action came after five mortar shells struck Moshav Netiv Haasara on the Israel-Gaza border, causing damage to a home but no physical injuries.

One mortar hit a house with a woman and an infant inside. Two people were treated for shock following the barrage.

Gideon Sharabi, a security officer from the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council, said that "Netiv Haasara sustained five hits. Miraculously, no one was hurt. A woman and a baby were in the living room in a house that was hit. When she heard the blast, she went into the reinforced room."

The shell hit a wall and damaged the living room after the woman had exited. According to Sharabi, Netiv Haasara has seen a surge in mortar attacks over the past several weeks.

Also on Tuesday, Palestinian militants fired four Qassam rockets from Gaza, which hit open fields in the western Negev. One landed near a kibbutz in the Sedot Negev Regional Council, and caused damage to a building.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Tuesday that a large-scale Israel Defense Forces operation against Palestinian rocket squads was drawing near.

Barak has made the threat before, but this is the first time he's repeated it since Israel started reducing fuel supplies to Gaza this week in another tactic to pressure militants to halt their rocket fire into southern Israel.

"Every day that passes brings us closer to a broad operation in Gaza," Barak told Army Radio.

"We are not happy to do it, we're not rushing to do it, and we'll be happy if circumstances succeed in preventing it," he said. "But the time is approaching when we'll have to undertake a broad operation in Gaza."

After Israel began to curb Gaza's fuel supplies, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz on Monday prohibited cutting off electricity to parts of the Strip for the time being.


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      1.   Barak 21:30  |  Rabbi Yakov Lazaros 30/10/07
      2.   Netiv Haasarah Voted For Those Qassams 21:33  |  Yishai Kohen 30/10/07
      3.   Is Barak still in control? 21:43  |  Brod 30/10/07
      4.   PURE TERRORISM 21:49  |  BOB KING THE ZIONIST 30/10/07
      5.   It is a time to act. 22:07  |  Vital 30/10/07
      6.   `When she heard the blast` ? , she was supposed to hear 22:15  |  Joseph E . 30/10/07
      7.   typical idf 22:19  |  matilda 30/10/07
      8.   "IDF accidentally fire on refugee camp," 22:22  |  Adolf 30/10/07
      9.   ADVANCE RESPONSE TO DUTCH AND SILVIENNE 22:27  |  Brant 30/10/07
      10.   IDF = Civilian Murdering Force 22:32  |  POP 30/10/07
      11.   To Bob King, The ZioNazi 22:41  |  Bob, The AntiZioNazi 30/10/07
      12.   Like always it will be another "story" soon. 22:41  |  Anti Apartheid 30/10/07
      13.   good start--4 down, a lot to go... 22:42  |  GHM 30/10/07
      14.   Brant #9; You have screwed them up 22:46  |  Murray of Montreal 30/10/07
      15.   what is the differenence between Hamas and the IDF 22:46  |  Italian 30/10/07
      16.   To #10 POP 22:47  |  Avrum 30/10/07
      17.   When Israel Agrees to Cease Fire, So Will the Palestinians 22:48  |  Mr. Knowitall 30/10/07
      18.   Brant 22:50  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 30/10/07
      19.   BOB THE "ANTIZIONAZI" 22:58  |  Brant 30/10/07
      20.   Four Palestinian police men? Why? 23:05  |  Henriette 30/10/07
      21.   http://www.ynetnews.com/PicServer2/04062007/1274311/HMS364_wa.jpg 23:11  |  Anti Apartheid 30/10/07
      22.   Bob, The AntiZioNazi in Miami 23:12  |  rich 30/10/07
      23.   To NaziBob from Florida 23:15  |  utagawa 30/10/07
      24.   Imminent Attack 23:18  |  Edifice 30/10/07
      25.   Ynetnews, Jpost and Haaretz 23:18  |  Anti Apartheid 30/10/07
      26.   Italian #15 23:19  |  David 30/10/07
      27.   Bob the AZN 23:36  |  Oddvark 30/10/07
      28.   "ITALIAN"IDF does not send out children to confont 23:42  |  PETER.SM 30/10/07
      29.   To #10 23:43  |  Ari 30/10/07
      30.   Time to attack is now 23:54  |  Joe Momma 30/10/07
      31.   Over 1000 Palestinian children killed by the IDF and 23:59  |  Anti Apartheid 30/10/07
      32.   To #15 Italian 00:01  |  Avrum 31/10/07
      33.   #9 00:03  |  Ron 31/10/07
      34.   More IDF state terrorism against the Palestinians 00:03  |  Dutch 31/10/07
      35.   Italian and pop 00:13  |  Gabriel 31/10/07
      36.   Adolf, Believe us that it was unintended error. 00:18  |  Haham me Bat Yam 31/10/07
      37.   Italian - still mourning the death of mussolini? 00:18  |  Johnny 31/10/07
      38.   #30, Dutch... 00:21  |  Silvienne 31/10/07
      39.   Ehud`s Olmert 00:23  |  Jesse 31/10/07
      40.   hamas police station?? 00:35  |  vik 31/10/07
      41.   Dead on target 00:51  |  Adrian de Klerk 31/10/07
      42.   CUT ELECTRICITY AND FUEL NOW !!!!! 00:52  |  D.Raconian 31/10/07
      43.   Idiotic Palestinians (and their supporters) 00:56  |  Clarence Darrow 31/10/07
      44.   To Dutch 00:56  |  Jon 31/10/07
      45.   Four Kadima men??? 00:58  |  Anti Apartheid 31/10/07
      46.   To both Bobs: you are both fools 01:02  |  Richard S 31/10/07
      47.   Two toddlers, a grand mother and four young police men 01:02  |  Shalomsky 31/10/07
      48.   Anti-Israel opponents blame israel, not the Pals 01:04  |  Richard S 31/10/07
      49.   #15 Italian; What would Italy do 01:11  |  Murray of Montreal 31/10/07
      50.   The difference between IDF and Hamas 01:23  |  Voice of Reason 31/10/07
      51.   TO; RON #30 01:24  |  Brant 31/10/07
      52.   I can`t stand all this suffering of Palestinians 01:28  |  Dutch 31/10/07
      53.   To anti-Israel hypocrits 01:47  |  Dakkar 31/10/07
      54.   To: POP;Italian;AntiApartheid;Dutch 01:47  |  Avrum 31/10/07
      55.   Bob, The AntiZioNazi Nazi is a Genocide supporter too 01:49  |  Genuine Tosefta 31/10/07
      56.   To POP murdering civillians 02:02  |  Dakkar 31/10/07
      57.   #10 POP=idiot 02:06  |  TOMY 31/10/07
      58.   the subject of excident or not is a nonsence 02:09  |  TOMY 31/10/07
      59.   Dutch #31 Overkill? 02:13  |  Dakkar 31/10/07
      60.   # 15 ITALIAN I think you are crying for Roman Empire 02:13  |  TOMY 31/10/07
      61.   AZN #11 Learn about genetics 02:19  |  Dakkar 31/10/07
      62.   Dutch confuses result with intent 02:21  |  Rafterman 31/10/07
      63.   So Hamas Says Soon It Will Go on the Offensive: A Response 02:27  |  Brad 31/10/07
      64.   Why does Hamas target Israeli civilians? 02:33  |  Hani 31/10/07
      65.   ANTI APARTHEID.WHY was a girl,miles from home,with a back pack 02:36  |  PETER SM 31/10/07
      66.   ANTI APARTHEID Confused?? Y net is an ISRAELI paper 02:49  |  PETER SM 31/10/07
      67.   WHO were Hamas targeting when they started shelling Netiv Haasar 03:18  |  PETER SM 31/10/07
      68.   I blame the EU 03:18  |  steve dill 31/10/07
      69.   #15 the difference 03:31  |  viking 31/10/07
      70.   # 31 03:41  |  viking 31/10/07
      71.   #27, Anti Apartheid... 04:06  |  Silvienne 31/10/07
      72.   #22, David, how wrong you are... 04:11  |  Silvienne 31/10/07
      73.   To Dutch 04:34  |  Boris 31/10/07
      74.   IOF - TERRORIST GROUP! 05:31  |  Niva dos santos 31/10/07
      75.   Over 150000 Black African children killed by Arabs in Darfur 05:59  |  Pro Arab Apartheid 31/10/07
      76.   Sil-The awful truth is that this might be a problem without solut 06:01  |  Stephen 31/10/07
      77.   A ridiculous analogy 06:01  |  Victor 31/10/07
      78.   Silvienne 52 & 53-What I object to in your posts 06:10  |  Stephen 31/10/07
      79.   But I thought 06:18  |  Adrian de Klerk 31/10/07