JERUSALEM – Palestinian and Hamas militants launched a bloody rocket and gun attack on an Israeli army post near the border with the Gaza Strip today.
At least two Israeli soldiers and four Palestinians were killed in the violence.
The army said there was an exchange of automatic weapons fire near the Kerem Shalom crossing, which is used to bring cargo from Egypt into Gaza.
The Hamas armed wing said it helped carry out the raid, which also involved the People’s Resistance Committees, an umbrella group of militants and the Islamic Army.
“Our fighters infiltrated the Israeli army military location near so called Kerem Shalom,” said PRC spokesman Abu Mujahid. “They succeeded in blowing up several vehicles and clashed with Israeli soldiers.”
The operation was meant to avenge the death of the group’s leader, Jamal Abu Samhadana, in an Israeli airstrike earlier this month, he said. With Post Wire Services