Palestinian killed in Israeli army raid in Gaza

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) – Israeli forces killed a Palestinian and
detained a senior member of the governing Hamas movement in a
raid in southern Gaza early on Thursday, witnesses said.

Family members said the dead man was the brother of Younis
Abu Daqqa, the detained Hamas member.

Witnesses said Israeli commandos clashed with Palestinian
gunmen during the raid on a house and that an Israeli
helicopter fired two missiles. The Israeli army said it could
confirm activity in the area but had no other details.

The raid near the town of Khan Younis was part of an
Israeli air and ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, launched in
late June after militants including Hamas gunmen abducted an
Israeli soldier in a cross-border attack.

Abu Daqqa is a well-known Hamas leader in southern Gaza.
Family members identified the dead brother as Youssef Abu
Daqqa, 50. It was unclear how he died.

It was also not known if Youssef Abu Daqqa was a member of
Hamas although the family supports the militant Islamist group.

As part of its offensive, Israel has detained dozens of top
Hamas officials, including cabinet members and lawmakers in the
occupied West Bank.

Israel regards Hamas, which is dedicated to its
destruction, as a terrorist group. Hamas took power in the
Palestinian territories after winning parliamentary elections
in January.

In separate violence, the army fired a tank shell at two
militants near the border fence in southern Gaza late on
Wednesday, wounding one who was taken to hospital, witnesses
said. The whereabouts of the second was unknown, they added.

The army said the men were crawling along the ground near
the border fence in a suspicious manner and were fired on.

Gaza, a narrow coastal strip home to 1.4 million
Palestinians, was occupied by Israeli troops until August last
year, when soldiers and some 8,000 Jewish settlers pulled out
after 38 years of occupation.