Israeli commando and seven Palestinian fighters killed in botched operation in Gaza
An Israeli commando and seven Palestinian fighters were killed in fighting in Gaza late on Sunday after an Israeli intelligence operation appeared to go disastrously wrong.
An Israeli team infiltrated Gaza in a civilian vehicle and were pretending to be Palestinians but were stopped at a checkpoint near the southern city of Khan Younes, according to Hamas, the Islamist militant group which controls Gaza.
The suspicious checkpoint guards called a local Hamas commander to the scene and a gun battle broke out between the Israeli commandos and Hamas forces, the group said.
The Israelis retreated to the Israel-Gaza border and were evacuated while Israeli aircraft launched strikes to cover their withdrawal.
An Israeli lieutenant colonel and the Hamas commander, 37-year-old Nour Baraka, were killed in the fighting. Six other Palestinian fighters were also killed, Hamas said.
The initial gun battle was followed by heavy Israeli airstrikes and a volley of Palestinian rockets fired into Israel. The eruption of violence strained growing hopes in recent weeks that Hamas and Israel were reaching a ceasefire agreement.
By Monday morning the situation appeared to have reached an uneasy calm.
The Israeli military did not give details of the operation but denied that the commandos had been sent to kill or capture the Hamas commander, as the militant group originally claimed.
"The special operation yesterday was not intended to kill or abduct terrorists, but to strengthen Israeli security. The force waged a heroic and very complex battle and was able to exfiltrate in its entirety,” a military spokesman said.
“During an Israeli Defence Forces special forces operational activity in the Gaza Strip, an exchange of fire evolved. At this incident an IDF officer was killed and an additional officer was moderately wounded.”
The Israeli officer was named only as Lt Col M, in line with Israel’s policy of not publicly naming its special forces troops.
He is reported to be a member of Israel’s Arabic-speaking Druze minority. Druze soldiers often serve in elite undercover units because their native Arabic allows them to pass as Palestinians.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, cut short a trip to France after the fighting broke out at around 9pm on Sunday. “The citizens of Israel owe him a huge debt,” Mr Netanyahu said, as he paid tribute to the killed commando.
Residents of southern Gaza reported heavy Israeli airstrikes while the Israeli military said at least 17 rockets were fired from Gaza in the hours that followed. Some of the Palestinian rockets were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system.
Hamas said one of the Israeli airstrikes destroyed the abandoned civilian vehicle that the commandos had been using, in an apparent effort to destroy evidence of the raid.
Israel cancelled school for children living near the Gaza border on Monday and shut down the train line between Ashkelon and Sderot as a precaution.
The spasm of serious violence was surprising because Israel and Hamas appeared to be nearing an agreement in which Israel would ease its decade-long blockade of Gaza in return for Hamas keeping the situation quiet.
In recent weeks, Gaza’s dire electricity shortages have eased after Israel allowed Qatar to begin paying for power plant fuel. Israel also allowed Qatar to deliver a suitcase with $15 million (£11.6 million) in cash to help pay salaries to civil servants inside Gaza.
Just hours before the fighting broke out, Mr Netanyahu defended the Qatari deal and said it had been endorsed by the Israeli cabinet as a way of easing Gaza’s humanitarian crisis and lowering the chances of conflict. “I am doing everything I can to avoid an unnecessary war,” he said.
Both Israel and Hamas have said they do not want another war and the UN will be hoping that the fighting on Sunday night will not derail what appeared to be promising steps toward a longterm ceasefire.
Tal Russo, a retired Israeli general, said Israeli forces were likely carrying out an intelligence gathering operation inside Gaza and were caught, rather than trying to assassinate Hamas leaders.
“Activities that most civilians aren’t aware of happen all the time, every night and in every region. This action - an operation that was apparently exposed - wasn’t an assassination attempt. We have other ways of assassinating people and we know how to do it much more elegantly,” he said, according to the Times of Israel.
"I am shocked and saddened at the loss of Lt Col M, the IDF officer killed last night, and praying with all citizens of Israel for the swift recovery of the injured soldier," said Reuven Rivlin, the Israeli president.
Hamas rarely inflicts casualties on Israeli forces and by Monday morning the group was hailing the gun battle as a victory for its side, even though it lost seven men to Israel's one. “Qassam fighters stopped the Israeli aggression east of Khan Younes in a legendary and heroic way,” a spokesman said.
