Israeli soldiers wounded in attack

19/04/2008| IslamWeb

The Israeli military has accused Palestinian fighters in the Gaza Strip of launching an attack on a border crossing with Israel in which several of its soldiers have been injured.

 

Witnesses and the Israeli military said five soldiers were wounded by a Palestinian suicide car bomber in Saturday's attack.

 

The fighters were attempting to infiltrate the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing after the car-bomb blast and under the cover of heavy fog, an Israeli military spokeswoman told the AFP news agency.

 

Residents near the crossing said they heard shooting from tanks and helicopters in the area.

 

Israel says Hamas has stepped up attacks on border crossings in recent days.

 

Earlier on Saturday, a Hamas fighter was killed in a separate incident when Israeli troops raided a neighborhood of Gaza City.

 

He was later identified as Imad Abu Amar, aged 22 years.

 

Last Wednesday two Israeli civilians were killed when Palestinian fighters raided the Nahal Oz crossing through which Gaza's fuel is supplied.

 

Saturday's attack at the Israel-Gaza crossing came shortly after Jimmy Carter, the former US president, met Khaled Meshaal, the exiled Hamas leader, in Damascus, the Syrian capital, and the Israeli government announced plans to build 100 new homes in two illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

 

An Israeli housing ministry advertisement, published on Friday, offered tenders for 48 homes in the settlement of Ariel and 52 homes in the smaller enclave of Alkana, despite strong protests from the Palestinians.

 

Israel confirmed the plans in a written statement to Al Jazeera.

 

PHOTO CAPTION

 

Israeli soldiers carry the coffin of David Papian during a funeral in Jerusalem April 18, 2008.

 

Al-Jazeera