Palestinian death toll reaches three

Youth shot in morning dies of wounds; troops kill Hamas commander in Gaza.

By AP, JPOST STAFF
pals near air strike 298 (photo credit: AP)
pals near air strike 298
(photo credit: AP)
A Palestinian youth who was shot on Tuesday morning during IDF operations in Gaza died of his wounds on Tuesday evening, bringing the day's Palestinian death toll to three.
  • Analysis: Damned if you do, damned if you don't Earlier in the day, security forces comprised of Yamam, an elite counter-terror unit, IDF forces, and members of the Shin Bet surrounded a home belonging to Imad Hasmin, a senior Hamas terrorist involved in the manufacturing and firing of Kassam rockets into Israel. The security forces called on Hasmin to surrender, and after he refused, they used bulldozers and other means to try to force him out of the house. During the operation, shots and mortars were fired at the IDF troops in the area. The soldiers returned fire and killed two Palestinians, including Hasmin. In other operations, IDF units, along with special Police and Shin Bet anti-terror units arrested a Tanzim fugitive in Jericho Tuesday evening. Shadi Juha, 30, was wanted by Israeli security services for a number of years for suspected involvement in terror attacks. He was transferred to security for questioning. On Tuesday morning, two IDF soldiers were lightly wounded by shrapnel on Tuesday morning after an anti-tank missile was fired at ground troops operating in Beit Hanun in the Gaza Strip. The two were given first aid at the scene and were to be evacuated to an Israeli hospital. Overnight Monday, two Hamas operatives were killed and four people seriously wounded, including a 1-year-old girl, when an IAF missile blew up a car in Gaza City. The IDF confirmed the airstrike. The car parking in front of the house of a well-known Hamas member in the Sajaiyeh neighborhood in eastern Gaza City, near the border with Israel, when an IAF missile wrecked the car, Hamas officials said. They identified the dead as Abdel Khader Habib, a field commander, and his bodyguard. A third person reportedly escaped from the vehicle. Earlier Monday evening, the IDF shot and killed a Palestinian man who pulled a gun on troops near the Bekaa valley settlement of Peza'el. A further investigation revealed, however, that the gun was a toy weapon.