Israeli Special Forces Officer Killed in Gaza Raid

A special IDF unit was discovered while operating in Gaza Sunday night, leading to fire exchange with Hamas terrorists during which one IDF officer was killed and another moderately injured. Seven Palestinians were also killed in the incident, including a senior Hamas military commander

Israeli Special Forces Officer Killed in Gaza Raid

An explosion caused by an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City (Archive photo: AP)

An IDF officer from an elite unit was killed and another officer was injured Sunday night during an operation in the Gaza Strip, the military said early Monday. The IDF identified the slain officer only by his rank and a single initial, referring to him as “Lt. Col. M.”

“During IDF special forces’ operational activity in Gaza, an exchange of fire broke out, during which an IDF officer was killed and an additional IDF officer was moderately injured,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement.

The incident occurred during an IDF operation three kilometers deep inside the Gaza Strip. According to reports from Gaza, due to a complication in the operation, exchanges of fire broke out between the terrorists and the Israeli forces, during which the Israel Air Force attacked in Gaza and killed at least seven Hamas terrorists, including Nur Barakeh, commander of the eastern battalion of Hamas’ Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades in Khan Yunis.

On Sunday evening, sirens were heard in the Gaza envelope. According to the IDF, 17 rockets had been fired from the Strip after the incident. Iron Dome systems intercepted three of them, and the rest exploded in open areas.

Palestinian media outlets reported the Israeli troops, who entered the Gaza Strip in a civilian vehicle, had initially tried to capture Baraka during the raid, but that the Hamas commander was shot dead after the operation was exposed. This was not confirmed by the IDF.

The Qassam Brigades said it engaged the Israeli commandos, setting off an intense firefight with Israeli troops. The special forces squad was forced to retreat to the Israeli side of the fence under the cover of the aerial bombardment, Hamas’s military wing said in a statement.

Israeli military sources, however, indicated that the raid was not an attempted assassination against Hamas figures but a more routine intelligence gathering operation that had been completed when the troops were spotted and confronted, prompting exchanges of fire.

Following the incident, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu cut short his visit to Paris. “In light of the security-related incidents in the South, the prime minister has decided to shorten his visit to Paris and to return to Israel,” his office said in a statement Sunday night.

 

[Sources: Israel National News, Times of Israel, Haaretz, Ynet News]

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