DFLP-affiliated fighters say projectiles fired

[freepalestine]

DFLP-affiliated fighters say projectile fired toward Israel
Published yesterday (updated) 07/01/2011 21:15
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GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The National Resistance Brigades, the military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said in a statement on Friday afternoon, that its fighters sent two mortars into Israeli territory.

The statement said the projectiles were fired from an area in the central Gaza Strip, east of Wadi As-Salqa.

The Israeli military said a projectile fired from the Gaza Strip in the morning "hit Eshkol Regional Council," east of central Gaza.

In their statement, the brigades said the attack came in response to Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip, adding that "resistance is the right choice, it is the only way to secure the national rights of Palestinians."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=349099

[freepalestine]

Gaza: Israel soldier killed by friendly fire
Published yesterday (updated) 07/01/2011 23:24
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GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- One soldier was killed and four others wounded when Israeli soldiers patrolling the Gaza border fired a mortar shell which deviated from its course and hit the patrol, an Israeli military spokesman confirmed Friday night.

The official said the patrol had spotted a group of militants soldiers said were planting a bomb near the no-go zone on the Gaza side of the border. The soldiers fired on the group when the incident occurred, the spokesman added.

Palestinian officials in Gaza said Israeli forces fired on areas east of Johur Ad-Dik in the Central Gaza Strip, with reports of three artillery shells fired and helicopters firing on the same area. The incident was near Kibbiutz Nirim, Israeli sources said.

While Israeli media initially said the attack injuring the soldiers had been carried out by Palestinian fighters operating inside Gaza, and Israel's Channel 10 reported that Israel troops opened fire after spotting a group of Palestinians apparently trying to place a bomb near the security barrier that separates Gaza from Israel, adding that Palestinians returned fire.

The early reports by the Israeli press were made after Hamas officials in Gaza called for retaliation in the wake of a dawn assassination of an innocent civilian in Hebron. Soldiers on an arrest raid burst into a Hebron home and shot a sleeping man, misidentified as a Hamas member, 13 times in the face and neck.

The military spokesman said all casualties on the border were the result of the apparently misfired mortar and not from Palestinian fire.

He added that the findings were the result of a "very preliminary" investigation conducted by head of the southern command Major General Tal Russo. He added that Russo had handed up his findings to more senior officials who would carry out a more thorough investigation.

Of the injured, the spokesman said one was moderately injured, with news reports saying the soldier was airlifted to hospital, while to others were lightly injured.

Palestinian officials said there were no reports of injuries in Gaza.

Israeli military officials reported the launch of a homemade projectile from Gaza into Israeli territory Friday afternoon, less than an hour after a protest in Gaza City saw Hamas leaders call for resistance factions to "take revenge" for the death of a Hebron man.

None were reported injured by the projectile fire.

The National Resistance Brigades, the military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said in a statement issued Friday afternoon, that its fighters sent two mortars into Israeli territory.

The statement said the projectiles were fired from an area in the central Gaza Strip, east of Wadi As-Salqa. An Israeli military statement reported projectile fire toward the Eshkol regional council at approximately the same time.

In their statement, the brigades said the attack came in response to Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip, adding that "resistance is the right choice, it is the only way to secure the national rights of Palestinians."

The incident came hours after Hamas leader Ismail Radwan told thousands in Gaza City that the "natural and national response to the crime [in Hebron] is to stop security coordination and to release the political prisoners and to unleash the resistance to respond to it," Radwan said.

Overnight, Israeli fighter jets launched a series of airstrikes on areas in the Gaza Strip, targeting what a military statement said was a Hamas training area and a tunnel into Israel.

The strikes followed reports by Israel that two rounds of projectile fire had come from Gaza.

According to statements from resistance brigades operating inside the coastal enclave, three mortar shells were fired toward an Israeli military base along the Gaza border Thursday morning.

The night before, Israeli troops opened fire on a group of Palestinians they said were trying to breach the Gaza Strip border, hitting at least one of them, the military said.

By morning, medics said ambulance crews recovered two bodies killed in the fire, Gaza medical services spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya confirmed.

AFP contributed to this report

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=349089

[freepalestine]

Israeli troops shot on Gaza border At least two armed men breached the buffer zone near Khan Younis, opening fire and injuring four Israeli soldiers.

Last Modified: 07 Jan 2011 20:36 GMT










At least four Israeli soldiers have been wounded after two armed men breached the buffer zone between the Gaza Strip and and opened fire

Al Jazeera's Stefanie Dekker, reporting from Gaza City, said there was no confirmation of how seriously the four Israeli soldiers in Kibbutz Nirim, east of Khan Younis, were injured or who carried out the attack.
"But certainly, it's not very common that the buffer zone is breached," Dekker said. "It is a very tightly, security-controlled area, so we're surprised that the militants have been able to cross it."
She reported that after the incident, more Israeli soldiers appeared at the scene and opened fire, but what happened to the armed men remains unclear at the moment.
The buffer zone is made up of 300 metres of Palestinian land - within the Gaza border - which Palestinians are not supposed to enter, even though the area contain farmland.
An exchange of fire
Israeli television's channel 10 reported that Israel troops opened fire after spotting a group of Palestinians apparently trying to place a bomb near the security barrier that separates Gaza from Israel and close to the Beeri kibbutz in Israel.
It said the Palestinians returned fire.
Witnesses told AFP that the firefight lasted 20 minutes, and that one Palestinian was said to have been wounded.
Earlier on Friday, a projectile fired from the Gaza Strip fell on southern Israel, Israeli military sources said.
Israel's military usually replies to such attacks with air raids on Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas.
Late on Thursday, warplanes bombed three sites across Gaza, causing no casualties, Palestinian security officials and witnesses said. The Israeli military confirmed attacking only two targets.
On Wednesday, Palestinian fighters fired seven projectiles, most of them mortar shells, without causing any casualties or damage, the army said.
And that night, Israeli troops shot dead two Palestinians who they said were trying to get across the border fence into Israel.


http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/01/201117175959790127.html