BICOM

The Israel Air Force (IAF) attacked a Hamas military compound in the northern Gaza Strip last night after an improvised explosive device was detonated on the border.

According to the IDF, the device exploded under a military bulldozer that was involved in infrastructure work near the Karni crossing, east of Shujaiyeh. The device was planted during last Friday’s demonstrations.

Following the IAF strike, Hamas members fired heavy machine guns towards the aircraft, triggering Red alerts in the Shaar Hanegev and Sdot Negev Regional Councils in southern Israel, the second time in recent weeks that machine gun fire from the Gaza Strip has triggered Israel’s missile alert system. The machine gun fire hit a house in Shaar Hanegev although there were no injuries.

The IAF responded by targeting the cell that fired the shots at the aircraft. The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said that the army “holds Hamas responsible for everything that takes place in the Strip and will not allow the organisation to turn the fence into a confrontation zone”.

A Hamas operative was killed in the strike, and another man was seriously wounded, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said. They said the dead man was one of a number of Hamas fighters manning an observation point east of Gaza City, in the north of the Strip.

The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Centre yesterday released a report concluding that 26 of the 32 Palestinians killed along the Gaza border since the 30 March were known operatives of Hamas or other Islamist jihadi organisations based in Gaza.

The Centre, which has connections to Israeli military intelligence, says that five were part of Hamas’s military wing, one was connected to Islamic Jihad’s military wing, two were operatives of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and one was involved with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Four were identified as being part of Hamas’s internal security services.

The other 17 were identified based on public statements made by various terrorist groups who took credit for their loyalties or activities. The remaining six Palestinians were not mentioned by any terrorist groups and are presumed to have been civilians.

The report acknowledged that the family of one of those killed has challenged the IDF’s description of him as a Hamas operative.