IDF kills Hamas man in West Bank; two Israelis killed in Gaza
By Arnon Regular, Haaretz Correspondent and Agencies
IDF troops killed a Hamas member in the West Bank village of Yatta early Wednesday morning, Israel Radio reported, a day after the militant group claimed responsibility for an attack in the Gaza Strip that killed two Israelis.
The attack took place Tuesday at the Karni terminal, where goods move between Israel and the Gaza Strip. A Palestinian gunman entered the terminal hurling hand grenades and spraying automatic weapons fire, killing two Israelis and injuring seven others.
The two were named as Zachar Chanukayev, a 39-year-old fork-lift driver at the terminal from Sderot, and Ahmed Kra, 20, a truck driver from Shoefat. Chanukayev will be buried on Wednesday at 11 A.M. in Sderot.
The gunman, Mohammed Yunis, an 18-year-old from the Jabaliyah refugee camp, was killed by security personnel.
Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack, which it called revenge for Israel's killing of one of its top commanders, Sa'ad al-Arbeed, and six other Palestinians a week ago in Gaza City.
"Palestinian terrorists are totally dedicated to attacking Israelis at absolutely any location and at any moment, and we saw this today at the Karni terminal," said David Baker, an official in the prime minister's office. Baker also stressed the importance of the Karni terminal for both Palestinian commerce and the Palestinian economy.
Earlier on Tuesday, Lt. Daniel Mandel, 24, was killed and two soldiers in his Nahal unit were injured, one seriously, in an exchange of gunfire in Nablus. Mandel, a resident of Alon Shevut, was buried Tuesday afternoon at 4:45 in Kfar Etzion.
The IDF Nahal force surrounded the Nablus building where three Hamas activists were holed up and called on them to surrender. Two of the men came out of the building and surrendered, while the third, Mazen Sharitah, exited the building firing a pistol.
Sharitah was shot dead, but not before killing Mandel and injuring the two other soldiers.
In Rafah, at the other end of the Gaza Strip, a commander from the Islamic Jihad group, Abdel-Hamid Abu el-Eish, was killed earlier by rockets fired from an Israeli army watchtower, witnesses said.
IDF forces also arrested two other Palestinians in Nablus, including Kamal Abu Hanesh, the commander of the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in Nablus. Abu Hanesh is suspected of involvement in many terror attacks and has long been sought by the IDF.
Troops also arrested three Palestinians overnight in Tamun, southeast of Jenin.
Elsewhere in the West Bank, the IDF destroyed overnight the Hebron home of Hamas activist Alle Natsha, who was killed after shooting at the Kiryat Arba settlement on April 5.
Soldiers carrying the coffin of Lt. Daniel Mandel, 24, who was killed in Nablus, at his funeral Wednesday in Gush Etzion. (AP)
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