Palestinians: 2 PA policemen killed in IDF
strike in Gaza
By Haaretz Service and The Associated Press
IDF troops clashed with Palestinians in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun after midnight Thursday, firing missiles at a Palestinian police post and killing two policemen, Palestinian security officials said. An additional 16 Palestinians were reported wounded.
Reports conflict about whether a third Palestinian, originally identified as a policeman and then as a civilian, was also killed or whether he was critically wounded.
Around 10 IDF tanks also headed for the residential part of the town. The troops left Beit Hanoun several hours later, taking with them three wanted Palestinians the IDF said had fired Qassam rockets at Israel.
Israel Air Force helicopters fired two missiles at a Palestinian police post, killing the two Palestinians and wounding 16 others, half of them members of the security forces, Palestinian officials said. The missiles were aimed at a post from which shots had been fired at Israeli forces, the IDF said.
Ahmed Ismail, 28, a rescue worker, charged that the IDF troops kept medical teams out. “Our cars came under fire three times when we tried to evacuate injured and dead people from the site,” he told The Associated Press.
Israeli sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the military moved in after receiving intelligence reports of Palestinian militants planning attacks in the area. They said Palestinian gunmen shot at the soldiers, and the troops fired back. They also said Palestinians detonated several bombs.
The IDF also arrested 13 Palestinians late Wednesday night in the West Bank, and safely detonated eight explosive devices in the Jenin area, Israel Radio reported Thursday. In the village of Bani Naim, close to Hebron, troops sealed the offices of an Islamic charity affiliated with Hamas.