IAF fires on Kassam cell, kills two

Fatah-affiliated Aksa Martyrs Brigades claims dead as members; four Kassams, two mortars hit Israel.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, AP
Kassam launchers 224.88 (photo credit: IDF [file])
Kassam launchers 224.88
(photo credit: IDF [file])
The IDF opened fire Thursday on a car carrying terror suspects in the northern Gaza Strip, killing two and wounding five, group members and a Palestinian health official said. The army said IAF aircraft struck a Kassam cell about to fire on Israel. The Fatah-affiliated Aksa Martyrs Brigades claimed both dead men as members. Four Kassams were fired at southern Israel from Gaza Thursday. One landed in an industrial zone outside Sderot. One woman was reportedly in shock after the attack. In an earlier salvo, three rockets landed in Sderot. No one was wounded, but cars and buildings sustained damage. The Aksa Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack. Two mortar shells were also fired at Israel on Thursday. They landed near the Gaza fence, causing no wounded or damage. The IDF has been operating continually in Gaza in an attempt to curb rocket and mortar attacks on southern Israel. Also Thursday, an Israeli was lightly wounded when Palestinians threw stones at a car traveling near Hebron. Earlier, a Palestinian man stabbed his Israeli employer multiple times, moderately to seriously wounding him, police said. The incident took place in the West Bank settlement of Porat. The attacker fled the scene, whilst the victim was evacuated to Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba. Police set up roadblocks all along the Green Line in the area in an attempt to catch the assailant. According to reports, police suspect that the attack was a hate crime. On Wednesday night, Avi Yosef, 27, was killed and his girlfriend was moderately wounded in a drive-by shooting in Ganei Tikvah, police said. An MDA team that arrived on the scene unsuccessfully attempted to resuscitate the man while his girlfriend was being evacuated to Shiba Hospital at Tel Hashomer.