Six Palestinians Killed in Gaza by Israeli Gunfire in southern Gaza

12 Nov

1:42 AM

Israeli forces attacked a group of Palestinians in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, east of Khan Younis, firing at them from a passing car after infiltrating Gaza dressed as civilians, killing six.

Following the shooting attack, Palestinians in the area reported multiple airstrikes, as well as heavy artillery fire from Israeli tanks stationed at the Gaza-Israel border.

Israeli sources reported that Israeli soldiers invaded the Gaza Strip as part of the ‘operation’ to kill the six fighters, one of whom was allegedly a senior commander with the armed wing of the Hamas party. The military issued a statement meant to quell rumors inside Israel, saying that ‘no Israeli soldiers were abducted during the operation’.

Israeli sources reported that one of the six men killed in the airstrike was Nur Barake, a deputy commander of an elite unit of Ezz al-Din al-Qassam, the military wing of the Hamas party.

According to local sources, the Israeli strikes and artillery fire began around 9:30 pm on Sunday, around the same time as the drive-by shooting attack.

The Israeli military claimed that ten ‘projectiles’ were fired from Gaza following the killing of the six men and the continued airstrikes. The Palestinian ‘projectiles’ fell into the desert, causing no damage.

The spokesperson for the Hamas party, Fawzi Barhoum, issued a statement condemning what he called “cowardly Israeli aggression”.

The Gaza invasion and killing comes a day after Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was embarrassed by Israeli media reports that he was somehow being too soft on Palestinians in Gaza by allowing foreign aid to provide a part of the salaries that had been denied to Palestinian employees in Gaza for months.

The attack by Israeli forces is a direct and blatant violation of the ceasefire negotiated and agreed to by Palestinian and Israeli officials earlier this week.