Gaza: IDF wounds Islamic Jihad terrorist

Palestinians: Airstrike wounds two civilians; army says both attacks targeted rocket launchers.

By YAAKOV KATZ, AP
gaza 224.88 (photo credit: AP [file])
gaza 224.88
(photo credit: AP [file])
Israeli Defense Forces attacked a car carrying Islamic Jihad gunmen near the Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday, wounding one person, the faction said. An air strike minutes later targeted a rocket launcher ready to fire, the IDF said, and two civilians were wounded, according to Palestinian health officials. The first attack by ground forces targeted a rocket squad, the IDF said. Two rockets were fired from the site at southern Israel earlier in the day, it added. One gunman was wounded, and a second who was traveling in the car escaped before the vehicle was hit, Islamic Jihad said. The military said the air strike targeted a rocket launcher armed with a projectile. A prominent Gaza physician and a 21-year-old civilian were hurt in the attack, according to Dr. Moaiya Hassanain of Gaza's Health Ministry. On Friday, IDF soldiers wounded two Lebanese nationals who infiltrated into Israel through the northern village of Ghajar, which straddles the Israeli-Lebanese border. Troops spotted two suspicious figures crossing into the northern part of the village from Lebanon while carrying a bag, which was later discovered to contain drugs. Ghajar has been used as a crossing point in the past to smuggle drugs into Israel from Lebanon. The troops opened fire, wounding both of the infiltrators. One was immediately caught and the other ran away but was later apprehended by the IDF. The detainees were evacuated in moderate condition to Ziv Hospital in Safed and later to security forces for interrogation. Also Friday, soldiers shot dead two Palestinians who were spotted crawling near the Gaza Strip security fence apparently planting an explosive device, the army said. On Saturday, shots were fired at troops operating in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus. No one was wounded and no damage was reported. On Saturday a spokesperson for Hamas's military wing warned that "many terrible surprises" awaited the IDF should Israel launch a wide-scale operation in the Gaza Strip. In an interview with an Israeli-Arab weekly which was quoted on Army Radio, the spokesperson said that Hamas was eagerly awaiting the incursion, and that the group had yet to take advantage of the full array of their arsenal. Speaking about the fate of kidnapped IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Schalit, the spokesperson assured that Hamas had no intention of harming the captive, even if Israel invades the Strip. He added that the group would not offer any more information about the condition of Schalit until Israel answered their demands for a prisoner release.