A Palestinian boy sits in front of the debris of his house bulldozed flat by an Israeli incursion

GAZA CITY, February 17 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – In another sweeping and barbaric incursion into the northern Gaza Strip early Monday, February 17, two Palestinians were killed by Israeli occupation troops.

Four Palestinians were also injured as around 40 Israeli tanks and two bulldozers pushed deep into the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian security sources told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Khalid al-Bakr, a member of the Palestinian national security forces, was shot dead at a Palestinian security outpost in the Ibaad al-Rahman district in the northern part of Gaza City, Palestinian hospital sources said. 

Shortly afterwards, Mohammed Khadr, 25, was shot dead by gunfire from Israeli tanks in the same area.  

In the nearby Sheikh Radwan district, four Palestinians, including a woman, were lightly to moderately injured as two Israeli helicopters opened heavy machinegun fire at them.

The two deaths rose to 2,960 the number of people killed since the beginning of the Palestinian Intifada in September 2000, including 2,210 Palestinians and 694 Israelis.     

In the meantime, Israeli occupation troops operating in the neighbouring al-Sudaniyeh district ordered everyone out of a five-storey building owned by a wanted Palestinian fighter, Ahmed al-Ghandur, who is a senior Hamas leader in the area. 

Palestinian security sources told AFP that shortly afterwards, the occupation soldiers put explosives around the building and completely destroyed it, noting that no one was injured in the demolition.  

Backed by two helicopters, the occupation troops also moved en masse into the village of Beit Lahiya, just north of Gaza City, firing heavy machineguns as they went, and razed around 20 dunams (five acres) of Palestinian farmland.   

Two tanks also moved into the Jabalya refugee camp and fired several tank shells at an unidentified target, but no casualties were reported, the sources added.  

A spokeswoman for the Israeli occupation army confirmed military activity in the area, but refused to comment further as the operation was ongoing.  

On Sunday, February 16, six members of the Islamic resistance group Hamas were killed in a “mysterious” explosion at a house in Gaza City-based area of Beit Lahiya.

The brutal incursion and the unraveled blast came after Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz threatened a tough response following a resistance blast Saturday, February 15, that gutted an Israeli tank and killed four soldiers.