Israeli helicopter fires missile at Palestinian militants in Gaza Strip

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"An Israel Air Force helicopter fired a missile in northern Gaza early Tuesday, killing three militants and wounding four, Palestinian security and hospital officials said.

They said the incident began with a gun battle across the border, and then the helicopter fired the missile. Rescue workers could not get to the casualties because of the ongoing gunfire, hospital officials said.

Witnesses said two ambulance staff and a radio reporter were among the injured.

The Israel Defense Forces had no immediate comment."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/721085.html

IDF kills at least 7 gunmen in Gaza, West Bank raids
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent, and News Agencies

IDF troops killed at least seven armed Palestinians in a number of raids early Tuesday in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

Special forces troops, operating deep in Gaza in a rare Israeli ground operation inside the Strip, killed at least three members of an Islamic Jihad Qassam crew setting up to fire rockets into Israel in the pre-dawn hours Tuesday.

The clash was followed by Israeli helicopter missile strikes in which at least one armed man was killed, witnesses said. A fifth armed man may have been killed in the air strikes.

There were no injuries to the IDF force, which left the Strip soon after the clash.

It was the first time since the Gaza withdrawal last summer that the army has acknowledged a ground operation within the Strip, but military sources said that a number of raids have been carried out without public notice.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/721085.html

Ambulance driver Khaled Abu Saada tells Ynet that during IDF operation in Beit Lahiya army helicopter launched missile at rescue workers as they were evacuating dead, wounded. ‘I do not know for certain whether the missile was meant to kill us or warn us to keep away – but it was definitely aimed in our direction,’ he says

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3256772,00.html

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"Palestinian ambulance driver Khaled Abu Saada told Ynet that during the IDF operation in Beit Lahiya the army launched a missile at rescue workers as they were evacuating the dead and wounded.

"I have no doubt that one missile was aimed at us," he said. "I do not know for certain whether it was meant to kill us or warn us to keep away – but it was definitely aimed in our direction."

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"Abu Saada said that a few minutes before midnight the hospital in Gaza received word of an incident with casualties near the American school in Beit Lahiya.

"We arrived at the scene, three Red Crescent and hospital ambulances, and as we neared the area of confrontation we noticed an IDF Apache chopper hovering above a Peugeot jeep. We were not sure if we should come closer because of the chopper, but people were yelling at us, 'there are dead and wounded inside.' We tried to get closer to the car, but the Apache made sounds as if it was about to open fire. We left and the scene."

Abu Saada said that despite our fears, the paramedics decided to carry out our duty and enter the area. "We began to search form casualties; we found one body and then another a few meters away. As we were moving the bodies to the ambulance we heard the Apache, and then a missile was launched in our direction. It landed a few dozen meters from us, and we didn’t know what to do. We threw ourselves aside to avoid it, and when we recovered we saw that a number of rescue workers were injured. Two of our colleagues were seriously wounded and later required surgery. Two journalists nearby were also hurt and required surgery."

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13037926/

The area where the clash took place is a frequent flashpoint. Palestinian militants fire rockets at Israel from there, and there are frequent infiltration attempts by unarmed Palestinians seeking work in Israel and armed militants trying to carry out attacks.