Israeli tanks divide Gaza into two halves

JENIN, West Bank, June 13 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Two Palestinians were killed in exchanges of fire with Israeli troops in the northern West Bank city of Jenin Thursday night, and an Israeli intelligence officer was shot dead in a nearby area, as Israeli tanks entered Gaza and cut the territory into two halves.

Palestinian security sources identified the two as Saleh Jeradate, 34, a local leader of the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, the Al-Quds Brigades, and Fahdi Jeradate, 25. It was not immediately clear if they were related, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

They said three others, including a seven-year-old girl, were injured in the fighting, which they described as "fierce".

Two Israeli Apache attack helicopters flew over the firefight, they added.

The Al-Quds Brigade vowed in a statement to respond with violence to Israeli "crimes".

"We have the right to strike back against the crimes of the occupation and (this response) will be violent," it said.

The killings followed the shooting death of an Israeli driving in the nearby area of Yabed in an attack claimed by the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, an armed offshoot of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction.

In a statement received by AFP, al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade said they “tricked an Israeli intelligence officer from Netanya and shot him dead near Yabed,” vowing to continue targeting “Zionists everywhere in occupied Palestine.

“This bloody enemy understands only the language of power and that it will get. This is just the start of a series of retaliatory operations that will rip the Zionist entity and its criminal rulers apart. Our blood will not be spilt for free,” the statement added.

“They kill us all, even infants,” shout the Palestinians

It is clear the statement was referring to Israeli raids against the Palestinians as of Tuesday, June 10, when Israeli helicopters fired missiles at a car in a heavily populated area to assassinate Hamas political spokesman Abdul-Aziz al-Rantissi. The assassination plot failed but innocent civilians were killed and injured.

On Wednesday, a number of Israeli helicopters fired rockets on a vehicle carrying two Hamas members and killed them.

The Palestinian response was swift. 17 people were killed and more than 70 others injured when an explosion ripped through a bus on Jaffa street in the west of occupied Jerusalem.

On Thursday, Israeli helicopters again fired missiles at a car carrying a Hamas regional leader – along with his wife and infant daughter. He was not the only one killed though. Six others, including his wife and one-year-old daughter, were killed and more than 50 wounded.

The killed Israeli was identified as Avner Maimon, 49. According to Israeli daily Ha’aretz, Maimon was a merchant who frequented Yabed, in Area B and under Israeli security control, to purchase coal.

Police had received several warnings in recent weeks on plans to murder the man, and he was informed of this. Despite the warnings, he arrived in the village Thursday, reported the paper.

However, the paper did not mention whether Maimon was an intelligence officer or not. It did not also mention why several warnings were issued to him by Palestinian resistance factions.

Tanks roll Into Gaza

Israelis mourn their victims

In another Israeli escalation, Israeli tanks entered the Gaza Strip late Thursday, taking up positions around the Netzarim settlement and cutting the territory into two halves, Palestinian security sources said.

Israeli soldiers have opened fire from the tanks onto positions occupied by Palestinian security forces, the sources said.

They said Israeli helicopter gun ships and an F-16 fighter jet were also seen flying over Gaza City in the middle of the night.

An Israeli military spokesman told AFP the army had taken up positions on a main route in Gaza since Wednesday to survey traffic following "Qassam" rocket attacks.

But, the spokesman said, alternative routes remained open to traffic.

Also Thursday night, the Israeli army surrounded a refugee camp in the northern West Bank town of Tulkarem, while attack helicopters circled overhead and explosions were heard, Palestinian security sources said.