Five Palestinian resistance fighters, a Palestinian civilian, and three Israeli soldiers were killed due during four different incidents in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
Palestinian sources said that four fighters of the al Qassam brigades, the armed wing of Hamas. were killed when the Israeli army invaded Al Shujaeyya neighborhood, east of Gaza City and clashed with Palestinian fighters Wednesday at dawn.
The sources identified the killed fighters as Abdul-Karim Al Kheesy, Mustafa Al Tatar, Karam Al Wadia and Mahmoud Hallas.
In addition, the Israeli army conducted two attacks targeting the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiyia on Wednesday midday killing one Palestinian and injuring seven others.
Witnesses said that the Israeli army shelled areas in Beit Lahiyia, medics said that one man was killed and seven other civilians sustained injures.
Meanwhile Palestinian sources reported that a Palestinian man, said to be an Islamic Jihad fighter was killed by Israeli army fire near Rafah city, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday at dawn.
Three Israeli soldiers were killed when a group of Al Qassam Brigades managed to ambush them near the Nahal OZ border crossing located at the central Gaza Israeli borders.
The Al-Qassam Brigades said that two of its fighters opened fire at an Israeli military base near the crossing and dragged an Israeli army patrol into the Gaza strip where fighters were waiting for them, as a result three Israeli soldiers were killed and five injured one critically.
Avihay Adar'ie, a spokesperson of the Israeli army told IMEMC that three soldiers were killed during the attack; he added that a response is being prepared on the political and military leadership levels. Adar'ie blamed Hamas for attempting to inflame the situation on the ground.
Israeli government sources told media agencies on Tuesday that Israel will resume on Wednesday supplying Gaza with minimum quantities of fuel needed to generate electricity and cooking gas. Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, stated in an interview with the Israeli army radio that Israel will not supply the Gaza Strip with fuel needed for transportation, adding that shipments will only include fuel needed to generate electricity and cooking gas.
The shipments will be transferred through the Nahal-Oz border crossing located in the northern part of the Gaza strip.
Last week, Palestinian fighters attacked the Nahal-Oz terminal and killed two Israelis. The fighters said that the attack comes in response to the ongoing siege on Gaza and the ongoing Israeli shelling and military assaults.
Last Wednesday, the Israeli army killed eight Palestinians, including three children. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), based in Gaza, stated on Tuesday that the cuts of transportation fuel have paralyzed the movement of Gazans by 80%.
The PCHR added that the Health, Water, and Education sectors in Gaza are 50% paralyzed due to fuel shortages. The Israeli army has placed Gaza under a strict siege since June 2007, leaving the coastal region facing sharp shortages of fuel, medicine, water, and food supplies.
Fouzi Barhum, the Hamas spokesman in Gaza, told IMEMC that today's attack and the killing of three Israeli soldiers come as a response to the continued Israeli attacks and siege on the Palestinian coastal region.
"They attack and kill Palestinians on daily basis, they continue to besiege us and make plans to attack Gaza; so this attack is a natural response."
UNRWA Commissioner-General, Karen Abu Zeid, stated on Monday that the situation in the Gaza Strip is disastrous, and that extensive efforts are needed to end the crisis in the coastal region.
During a Monday evening meeting with Legislator Jamal Al Khodary, head of the Popular Committee Against the Siege, Abu Zeid called upon international organizations and human rights groups to finance Gaza and save it from the consequences of the ongoing siege.
Updated from:
Army kills four fighters in Gaza
Time: 8:15 By: Saed Bannoura
Palestinian medical sources in the Gaza Strip reported on Wednesday at dawn that Israeli soldiers shot and killed four Palestinian fighters in an invasion into Al Shujaeyya neighborhood, east of Gaza City.
The sources identified the killed fighters as Abdul-Karim Al Kheesy, Mustafa Al Tatar, Karam Al Wadia and Mahmoud Hallas.
Clashes and exchanges of fire took place as the army advanced into the neighborhood under the air coverage of military apaches while dozens of armored vehicles advanced into the area.
Soldiers fired rounds of live ammunition at dozens of homes especially near a juice factory east of the neighborhood.
On Tuesday evening, one fighter of the Islamic Jihad was killed by and three bystanders were wounded when an Israeli drone fired a missile at a motorcycle in the Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
On Tuesday at night, Israeli forces shelled several areas in the Gaza Strip causing several injuries.
