Six killed in IAF strike on Hamas post in southern Gaza
jpost.com staff and AP , THE JERUSALEM POST Feb. 5, 2008
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Six Hamas operatives were killed in an IAF strike on a Hamas post in the
Gaza Strip Tuesday afternoon, Palestinian sources said, bringing the number
of group members killed throughout the day to eight.

At least six others were wounded in the attack, some of them in critical
condition, Health Ministry officials said.

Islam Shahwan, a spokesman for the Hamas executive force, said the strike
hit a station in the southern Gaza village of Abassan, east of the town of
Khan Yunis. He said the men were performing afternoon prayers when the
building was hit.

The military confirmed the attack, saying it came in response to rocket
attacks earlier in the day.

Earlier Tuesday, two Hamas gunmen were killed in clashes with IDF troops
along the Israel-Gaza border, Hamas security and hospital officials said.
The army said two suspicious figures approached the force, which was
conducting a routine operation against rocket-launching squads. Troops
opened fire and confirmed hitting the men, the military said.

The clash took place in an area rocket launchers frequently use to strike
the Kerem Shalom and Sufa crossings between Gaza and Israel.
Meanwhile, two Kassam rockets were fired at Sderot in the morning. One of
the rockets hit a fuel tank at a factory in the town's industrial zone and
set off a fire. Firefighters tended to the flames, but several workers
suffered shock, and damage was caused to the building.

The second rocket fell in an open area.

The Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) and an unknown organization called
The Mujahedeen Brigades took responsibility for the Kassam attack, and
claimed that the rockets were launched as revenge for the killing of a
senior PRC man in an IAF air strike Monday.

Also Tuesday, Palestinian terrorists opened fire from the Gaza Strip on
agriculturists working the fields of Kibbutz Nir Oz near the Gaza fence,
hitting a tractor. There were no casualties but damage was caused.

IDF troops returned fire, Army Radio reported.