Israeli army thrusts into Beit Hanoun, kills an old man

A Palestinian old man from northern Gaza Strip was reportedly killed on Thursday after the Israeli army tanks rolled into the area and began shooting heavily.

Palestinian medical sources said that Dawood aL-Kafarna, of his fifties, was evacuated to a local hospital after having been shot dead with live ammunition.

Witnesses said that more than 30 Israeli armored vehicles including tanks thrust few hundred meters into the Beit Hanoun city in northern Gaza Strip as accompanying bulldozers began razing vast areas of Palestinian-owned farm lands there.

Witnesses added that the Israeli forces, using loudspeakers, ordered the local inhabitants to get out of their houses for interrogations.

In response to the Israeli incursion , the aL-Qassam brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, opened heavy fire at a number of tanks, while the brigades fighters engaged in gun battles with the invading forces, Al-Qassam brigades announced in a statement, faxed to press.

Spokesman of the Israeli army, Avihay Adre'y, told media outlets that the military operation in northern Gaza was limited and that the army is not giving details about its objectives, until it is over.

In the meantime, an Israeli drone fired at least one missile on a Palestinian house in Alamal neighborhood of Khan Younis, in southern Gaza Strip, causing light damages to the house, with no casualties reported.

Also, in southern Gaza, two Palestinian fighters of the Saraya aL-Quds brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, have been reportedly wounded late at yesterday night after an Israeli drone fired a missile on them to the east of Kahn Younus city.

Local medics described one of the injuries as a critical.

Concurrently, the Israeli army swept earlier on Thursday into the eastern Abbasan village to the southeast of Gaza Strip, as the Israeli soldiers stormed nearby Palestinian houses. No further details were reported.

Updated from ...

Israeli media sources reported on Wednesday at night that the Israeli army carried two airstrikes near Beit Hanoun, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, killing one resident and wounding five others.

Israeli online daily, Haaretz, reported that the slain resident is a member of the Palestinian resistance.

Moreover, the Palestinian News Agency, WAFA, reported that the army shelled an area Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip
Soldiers also shelled one home in the city; damage was reported, no injuries.

Eyewitnesses reported that the army apparently intended to fire the missile at a group of fighters but the missile missed its target and hit the house of Ghassan Al Lahham; excessive damage was reported.

Also, an Israeli military source reported that the air force fired missiles at two resistance groups near Beit Lahia, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, no injuries were reported.

Late on Wednesday at night, soldiers supported by several tanks and armored vehicles invaded Al Faraheen area, east of Khan Younis, and fired rounds of live ammunition at a number of homes.

An Israeli tank in Gaza / archive photo