An Israeli soldier and seven Hamas fighters were killed in Gaza during an intense night of clashes between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Hamas terror organisation, as an attempted intelligence-gathering mission took place.
The fighting triggered a round of rocket fire from Gaza into Israel, with at least 17 rockets and mortars fired from Gaza into southern Israel after the dramatic escalation of tensions. Three of the projectiles were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system.
Among the Hamas fighters killed in Israeli airstrikes was a senior commander of Hamas’s military wing, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. The commander is speculated to be Nour Barakeh, considered to be responsible for the cross-border tunnel offensive strategy in Gaza.
The incident is reported to have begun with clashes between undercover Israeli forces and Hamas fighters inside the Gaza Strip during the mission launched by the IDF. As the Israeli forces attempted to withdraw from Gaza, the unit called in IDF aerial support and an exchange of fire resulted in the death of the Israeli soldier and seven Palestinians.
IDF spokesperson, Brigadier General Ronen Manelis said today that the night’s mission was intended to be an intelligence-gathering mission by IDF special forces operating inside Gaza, and that the purpose of the operation was not to kidnap or assassinate.
Manelis said the soldiers operating in Gaza overnight “became trapped in a highly complex situation but they had responded “heroically, hit those who threatened them and extracted themselves to Israeli territory.”
The Israeli officer, only identified as Lieutenant Colonel “M”, was killed following an exchange of fire that escalated during a Special Forces operation in the Strip, the IDF said, adding that the families had been notified but did not reveal any further details on the identity of the soldiers.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday offered his condolences to the family of the senior special forces officer who was killed overnight during an operation in the Gaza Strip that sparked hours of clashes.
The tensions cut short Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to Paris, where he had been attending World War I commemorations.
The clash comes after months of deadly unrest along the Gaza-Israel border.
