Incident

Incident

Fighting erupts in Gaza as Israeli army jeep blown up

06 March 2008 11:54 (UTC +04:00)

Israeli troops moved into Gaza, exchanging fire with Palestinian militants, after the explosions rocked the army post near the Kissufim crossing between Israel and the centre of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, the witnesses said.
Radical Palestinian group Islamic Jihad claimed in a statement that it had blown up a military jeep near Kissufim.
The incident occurred just a day after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wrapped up her latest mission to the region saying she had secured a pledge from Israel and the Palestinians to resume peace talks.
Negotiations were frozen by the Palestinians after a series of deadly Israeli raids on Gaza over the past week that left 126 Palestinians dead, including women and children.
Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television said one soldier was killed and another wounded in Thursdayâ€™s blasts, adding that the vehicle suffered a direct hit during a routine patrol in the area.
Israeli tanks and other reinforcements were rushed to the area and choppers swooped down to evacuate other wounded shortly afterward, the witnesses said.
The Israeli army had no immediate comment on the reports.
Following the explosion, Israeli troops entered Gaza near the town of Deir Al-Balah, with an exchange of gunfire erupting between the soldiers and Palestinian militants, witnesses said.
In June 2006, Gaza militants tunnelled out of the territory and attacked an Israeli army post in southern Gaza, seizing a soldier and killing two others in a raid that also left two gunmen dead.
The deadly raid sparked a massive five-month Israeli offensive in Gaza aiming to free the soldier and stop rocket fire from the territory.
The operation failed to achieve both objectives, left several hundred Palestinians dead and ended after Hamas and Israel agreed to a truce in late November 2006.
The serviceman seized, Gilad Shalit, remains in captivity today, with Israel and Hamas negotiating via third parties on a prisoner exchange.
Hamas has run Gaza since June 2007, when it routed forces loyal to moderate Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in a week of deadly clashes.
Since the bloody takeover, Israel has further tightened restrictions on movement in and out of the impoverished territory home to 1.5 million people.
The Jewish state carries out regular military incursions inside Gaza aiming to stop near daily rocket fire from the territory.
Violence in and around the Gaza Strip sharply escalated on February 27 after an Israeli raid killed five Hamas militants in southern Gaza and gunmen retaliated with a barrage of rockets on Israel.
Since then, at least 126 Palestinian have been killed by Israeli fire inside the coastal strip, including several dozen children and other civilians. Two Israeli soldiers and one civilian have also died during that time.