Israeli forces killed seven Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Sunday in an undercover raid that Hamas said targeted one of its commanders and the Israeli military said left one of its officers dead. The Times of Israel reports violence prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cut short a visit to Paris, where he had been gathering with world leaders for a WWI commemoration.
In fact Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected back in Israel on Monday to try and salvage a cease-fire deal in Gaza that was ruptured overnight in a deadly clash in which a senior IDF special forces officer and seven Hamas terrorists were killed.
Hamas said the incident began when assailants in a passing car opened fire on a group of its armed men, killing one of its commanders. Hamas gunmen gave chase as the car sped back towards the border with Israel, Hamas said in a statement.
Medics and Hamas officials said at least seven people were killed, four of them militants, including Hamas commander Nour Baraka. It was unclear if the other fatalities included gunmen
The Israeli military said in a statement that: “During an IDF (Israel Defense Forces) Special Forces operational activity in the Gaza Strip, an exchange of fire evolved.” With one officer killed and one wounded.
Al Jazeera reports that the Israeli incursion and air attacks drew rocket fire from the Hamas-controlled enclave late on Sunday. A senior official of Hamas, the group administering the Gaza Strip, said the Israeli special forces team infiltrated an area near the southern city of Khan Younis in a civilian vehicle.
Among those reported killed in the attack was Nour Baraka, a prominent commander of the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.
A ground operation inside the Gaza Strip is rare and will likely significantly boost tensions.
“We heard that a special Israeli unit went inside Khan Younis and assassinated Nour Baraka and another [commander],” Ghazi Hamad, senior Hamas official, told Al Jazeera.
“After [that], the car which carried this special unit or some collaborators, they tried to escape … but they were followed by Hamas and the al-Qassam Brigades and after that Israel tried to cover this car through striking here in Gaza,” he added.
“I expect this night in Gaza to not be easy, to not be calm.”
Witnesses said during the chase Israeli aircraft fired more than 40 missiles in the area where the incident took place, killing at least four other people.
Fawzi Barhoum, spokesperson for Hamas, denounced what he called a “cowardly Israeli attack”.
