Two Hamas gunmen were killed early yesterday in an exchange of fire with Israeli soldiers during the army's latest operation in the Gaza Strip, sources on both sides said.
Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said two of its members died in the shootout near the northern town of Beit Hanun. Initial reports said the gunmen were killed in an air raid.
An army spokesman said troops operating near the border fence opened fire on two armed Palestinians who were approaching the barrier between Gaza and Israel and reported hitting them.
GROUND, AIR STRIKES
The latest operation came a day after heavy Israeli ground and air strikes killed nine Palestinians in the densely-populated territory where the Islamist movement Hamas violently seized control in mid-June.
Among the dead were two brothers, members of the radical Islamic Jihad group who were targeted inside their home. The men's mother and sister also died in the attack.
Thursday's raids also left 48 people wounded and several houses destroyed, witnesses and medics said.
Israel has been carrying out near daily operations in Gaza aiming to halt near daily rocket and mortar fire from the territory.
TENSION
The latest Israeli strikes came shortly before US President George W. Bush's visit to the region next week in a bid to advance Middle East peace talks.
"The parties are continuing to try to meet and talk, but obviously it's fraught with a lot of tension," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
Yesterday's deaths bring to 6,032 the number of people killed since the start of the second Palestinian uprising in September 2000, the vast majority of them Palestinians.
On Thursday, a rocket landed without causing injuries about 15km from the Gaza border in the coastal city of Ashkelon -- the furthest a rocket launched by Gaza militants had ever landed inside the Jewish state, the army said.
Four contenders are squaring up to succeed Antonio Guterres as secretary-general of the UN, which faces unprecedented global instability, wars and its own crushing budget crisis. Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal’s Macky Sall are each to face grillings by 193 member states and non-governmental organizations for three hours today and tomorrow. It is only the second time the UN has held a public question-and-answer, a format created in 2016 to boost transparency. Ultimately the five permanent members of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, hold the power, wielding vetoes over who leads the
A humanoid robot that won a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday ran faster than the human world record in a show of China’s technological leaps. The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21km race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, said a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race began. That was faster than the human world record holder, Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in about 57 minutes in March at the Lisbon road race. The performance by the robot marked a significant step forward
An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 off northern Japan on Monday prompted a short-lived tsunami alert and the advisory of a higher risk of a possible mega-quake for coastal areas there. The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was a 1% chance for a mega-quake, compared to a 0.1% chance during normal times, in the next week or so following the powerful quake near the Chishima and Japan trenches. Officials said the advisory was not a quake prediction but urged residents in 182 towns along the northeastern coasts to raise their preparedness while continuing their daily lives. Prime
HAZARDOUS CONDITION: The typhoon’s sheer size, with winds extending 443km from its center, slowed down the ability of responders to help communities, an official said The US Coast Guard was searching for six people after losing contact with their disabled boat off the coast of Guam following Typhoon Sinlaku. The crew of the 44m dry cargo vessel, the US-registered Mariana, on Wednesday notified the coast guard that the boat had lost its starboard engine and needed assistance, Petty Officer 3rd Class Avery Tibbets said yesterday. The coast guard set up a one-hour communication schedule with the vessel, but lost contact on Thursday. A Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircraft was launched to search for the six people on board, but it had to return to Guam because of
RSS