Region | Palestinian Territories
Palestinian girl killed in Israeli attack in Gaza
Israel forces entered a northern Gaza town on Saturday and seized a local Hamas leader from his home amid heavy fighting with Palestinian gunmen, the Israeli military and Hamas militants said. The wanted man's 14-year-old daughter was killed in the fighting.
- AP
- Published: 13:50 April 26, 2008
Gaza: Israel forces entered a northern Gaza town on Saturday and seized a local Hamas leader from his home amid heavy fighting with Palestinian gunmen, the Israeli military and Hamas militants said. The wanted man's 14-year-old daughter was killed in the fighting.
The clashes erupted in the town of Beit Lahiya, near the border with Israel. The army confirmed the raid, saying its forces went in to arrest a Hamas member and exchanged fire with Palestinian militants.
The target of the raid was Talat Hassan Marouf, a local Hamas leader. The fighting took place around his house, and Israeli forces withdrew after detaining him, said Abu Obeida, a spokesman for the Hamas military wing.
The military said Israeli troops came under fire from inside the house, where Marouf's family was at the time. His 14-year-old daughter, Mariam, was killed by shrapnel from heavy machine guns, medics in Al Awda Hospital in northern Gaza said. Her mother was injured in the clashes.
An army official said the family asked to be evacuated and was eventually permitted to do so by Israeli troops. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with army regulations, couldn't say if this was before or after the girl was killed.
The wanted Hamas member then turned himself in, the army official said.
Nine other Palestinians, including seven gunmen, were also wounded in the fighting, said Dr. Moawiya Hassanain, a Palestinian Health Ministry official. Three of the gunmen were in critical condition, he said.
The fighting began before dawn when an Israeli undercover force entered an area of northern Gaza near the border with Israel. Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants fired at the force, using machine guns, mortars and homemade bombs. A dozen of Israeli tanks and aircraft provided cover during the clashes.
The army said its aircraft launched two missile strike against the militants.
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