19 year-old Palestinian Jihad Al-Biss from Yebna Refugee Camp was shot dead in the camp as Israeli forces opened random fire at residents Wednesday afternoon.
Al-Biss received a bullet to his head and died immediately, eyewitnesses said. The army is shooting at any moving body in the camp according to the witnesses.
The Israeli army has also detonated an explosive charge in the house of Abu Joudeh family in Yebna Refugee camp.
The army have killed 4 and injured over 10 Palestinians and demolished over 15 houses in a major military operation started Tuesday morning.
Army Expands Operation in Northern Gaza Strip Area
06:53
Army took up Tuesday night positions east of Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip region, therefore advancing several hundred meters westwards inside the Palestinian Strip.
Army source said that the advance was an attempt to prevent Qassam rockets being launched at the southern Negev town of Sderot.
Close to midnight, troops crossed Salah al-Din road that connects Gaza City and the Erez crossing and continued several hundred meters westward.
The decision to broaden military operations in Beit Hanoun area was made on Monday in consultations between Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and senior army officers.
Earlier in the week, senior army officers criticized the 35 days long operation in beit Hanoun as a failure, saying that it increases the motivation of armed resistance groups to launch more Qassam rockets without providing a practical solution to the problem.
On Tuesday, army Israeli Military Intelligence chief Aharon Farkash said that military means alone can’t provide a solution to Palestinian armed resistance.
The motivation of Palestinian resistance groups to continue launching Qassams increased considerably with the start of army operation in Beit Hanoun area. More than 45 rockets landed in Sderot region since the start of the 35 days military operation as compared to seven only prior to it.
Hamas Tuesday released a video tape showing masked men, members of its military wing, threatening ‘to rain rockets’ on Sderot.
The footage shows one of the militants, calling on the residents of Sderot to demand that the government remove the army from Beit Hanun, or else the launches would continue.
Local sources in Beit Hanoun area reported that the 35 days long operation and the tight siege imposed on the area resulted in grieve living conditions.
