tuesday morning, persons from an unknown military brigade detonated an explosive device near an israeli military jeep, killing one israeli soldier and wounding three others.
the attack occurred near the gaza border, close to the kissufim. it appears as if israeli military forces were patrolling the area with tanks and jeeps, when one of the vehicles was targeted with an explosive device. some reports have indicated that the israeli forces were shot at with a rocket-propelled-grenade or mortar, but israeli sources report that a bomb was detonated. israeli military sources also report discovering five additional bombs planted in close proximity to the border.
it is unclear at this time who is responsible for the attack. as of tuesday night, no palestinian faction has claimed responsibility.
israeli officials have stated that their response to the attack is "forth coming," but despite this looming threat, israeli military forces carried out a number of retaliatory maneuvers following the attack:
- israel closed all of gaza's borders, stopping any incoming shipments of humanitarian aid, foodstuffs, medical supplies and basic goods.
- following the explosion, israeli forces opened fire with automatic weapons and helicopter machine gun fire into gaza, killing one palestinian man, identified by local sources as Anwar Al-Breim, a 27-year-old farmer. two additional palestinian were wounded.
- an unmanned predator drone fired a projectile in the central khan younis neighborhood of akkad. the drone targeted Hayan as-Ser as he rode his motorcycle. as-Ser was not killed but hospital officials describe his condition as critical. a second palestinian man, possibly named
Hussain Abu Shamia, was also injured in the attack. according to palestinian sources, as-Ser is said to be a hamas or popular resistance committees-affiliated fighter, in some way responsible for the convoy attack.
- israeli ground forces including 20 tanks, 7 armoured bulldozers and an unknown number of other military vehicles invaded gaza's abu-hammam and wadi as-salqa area, located near gaza's eastern border, close to the kissufim crossing. while in gaza, armoured bulldozers razed agricultural lands and an unknown number of palestinian homes in the central gaza area in between deir al balah and al-maghazi . tank forces patrolled in gazan territory, west of the border barrier for much of the day. there were also reports that israeli ground forces occupied a palestinian home, using it as a temporary military staging area.
- israeli helicopter forces fired an unknown number of projectiles at civilian areas near deir al balah, in southern gaza. other unnamed areas were shelled by israeli artillery including a residential area west of the kissufim crossing. at least two children were injured in the shelling of a home west of the kissufim crossing.
- israeli ground forces opened fire at palestinian homes in the al-faraheen and al-qarara areas of khan younis.
- wednesday morning, israeli air forces bombed rafah, near the gaza-egypt border, reportedly targeting the network of palestinian tunnels. at least three air strikes were reported in rafah on wednesday morning.
wednesday afternoon, palestinian resistance fighters responded to the israeli attacks by launching projectiles. the armed wing of hamas, the qassam brigades, in cooperation with the nasser salah addin brigades, the armed wing of the popular resistance committees, launched seven projectiles targeting an israeli military site belonging to the special forces, located east of al-maghazi refugee camp. three of the seven projectiles launched were 90mm mortars,
claimed by the qassam brigades, while the remaining four projectiles were claimed by the nasser salah addin brigades.
israeli authorities have not confirmed the above mentioned strikes targeting the military sites, but ha'aretz news is reporting that one homemade projectile landed in the western negev area of eshkol.
according to ha'aretz, this is the first rocket strike since the ceasefire began. the strike resulted in no injuries or property damage.
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Palestinian sources:http://maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=35338http://maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=35331http://maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=35340http://maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=35352http://english.wafa.ps/?action=detail&id=12573http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4642&Itemid=1http://www.alqassam.ps/english/?action=showsta&sid=1310Israeli sources:http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1059172.htmlhttp://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1059156.htmlhttp://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1059457.htmlhttp://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1059457.htmlhttp://www.imemc.org/article/58653http://www.imemc.org/article/58644http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1232643759070&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3662670,00.htmlhttp://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/News/the_Front/09/01/2701.htmInternational sources:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7853803.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7855086.stmhttp://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/01/20091271411489965.html
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