Two Hamas operatives killed in Air Force attacks; additional Palestinian shot dead by IDF.
By ASSOCIATED PRESS, JPOST.COM STAFFjp.services2(photo credit: )
The IAF fired two missiles at an armored car belonging to the Reuters news agency late Saturday night, moderately wounding five people, including two cameramen.
The airstrike came as IDF forces moved into an area just inside the Gaza Strip near the Karni crossing, witnesses and Palestinian security officials said.
The army said troops in the area were searching for a search for terror infrastructure, particularly tunnels.
The Reuters crew members, Fadel Shama'a, 23, and Sabah Hamida, 25, who worked for a local television company, were in Shajaiyeh overnight to film the military activity. They had just opened the doors of their armored vehicle when it was hit by two missiles, according to Shamas Odeh, chief of Reuters TV in Gaza.
The cameramen and three bystanders were moderately injured by shrapnel and all five were sent for surgery, hospital officials said.
The white sports utility vehicle was emblazoned with the Reuters logo and had "TV" and "Press" written on it in English, Arabic and Hebrew, according to reports.
The IDF however, said that in the darkness, no press markings were seen on the vehicle. The army said the car was moving in a suspicious manner near Israeli troops inside a combat zone.
Capt. Noa Meir, an army spokeswoman, said the vehicle was the only one in the combat area, was driving suspiciously and came near Israeli forces during the nighttime raid.
"It was seen as a threat," she said. "There were no clear TV marks (on the car). At least we didn't see one."
The IDF also reported that it had struck three gunmen in the area; Palestinians reported that a Hamas operative was killed in the attack.
A second Hamas operative was later killed in another Air Force raid in the Sajaiyah district in Gaza City.
Later Sunday, a 20-year-old Palestinian man in the Shajaiyeh neighborhood of Gaza City, where the raid was taking place, was killed after being shot by a sniper, hospital officials said. The army said the man approached the soldiers carrying an anti-tank missile, and the troops shot him.
Also Sunday soldiers arrested lawmaker Mahmoud Musleh's in Ramallah, according to his daughter and Palestinian security officials. The army confirmed the arrest.
His capture, which brought to 31 the number of detained Hamas lawmakers, put almost all of Hamas' West Bank leadership in Israeli custody.
Much of the rest of the Hamas leadership is in Gaza.
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