Gaza: An Islamic Jihad fighter was killed near Gaza City on Wednesday in what medics and family said was an Israeli drone strike, although the army denied any involvement.
“A Palestinian [fighter] was killed by an Israeli drone in Shejaiyeh,” said Ashraf Al Qudra, spokesman for the Hamas-run health ministry, referring to a district near the Israeli border with Gaza.
He named the dead man as Mohammad Al Ijlah, 32, and said his body had been torn apart by the blast, his limbs ripped by shrapnel.
Family sources in the neighbourhood said Al Ijlah was a fighter from Islamic Jihad’s Al Quds Brigade and was killed by a drone.
The group issued a statement confirming Al Ijlah was one of its members but said he had been killed “in a Zionist shelling” on the area.
But the Israeli military denied carrying out any strike on Gaza and said its troops had not been involved in any other shooting incidents.
“We did not strike in Gaza today and we are unaware of any incident involving tanks or other shooting,” a spokeswoman told AFP.
A Palestinian youth shot by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip died of his wounds last week, with Israel’s army saying soldiers opened fire to break up a violent demonstration by Palestinians who were throwing rocks and burning tyres at the border fence.
Israeli war planes carried out a series of strikes in Gaza on Friday, shortly after a rocket from the besieged Palestinian territory struck the Jewish state.
The exchange of fire caused no damage or casualties.
