Palestinian militants killed one Israeli soldier and wounded four others when they detonated a booby-trapped chicken coop in the central Gaza Strip.
The attack was claimed by Hamas, which said two of its fighters were killed in gun battles following the explosion. | No word on the fate of the baby chicks |
The Israeli army quickly struck back, killing a militant from the Islamic Jihad group in a missile attack. There have been few such clashes in the weeks since the death of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. The renewed fierce fighting comes just over a month before Palestinians vote for a new leader of the Palestinian Authority on 9 January. The chicken coop exploded in a huge blast during an Israeli search for hidden weapons on Tuesday on the Karni-Netzarim road south of Gaza City just before dawn. An Israeli soldier was killed and four wounded, Israeli army and Palestinian sources said. Palestinian militants hiding nearby are then thought to have opened fire on the troops. Israeli forces hit back, firing a missile which killed an Islamic Jihad fighter and at one point making a brief incursion into al-Sejaiya neighbourhood of Gaza City, which is controlled by militants. Hamas said two of its fighters were believed dead in the 45-minute shoot-out. Other reports suggest four Palestinians, including a 14-year-old boy, were wounded or died. |