MNeagle
7th June 2010, 08:56 AM
GAZA CITY—Israel killed a group of men in diving suits off the coast of the Gaza Strip early Monday and launched an airstrike against alleged militants preparing to fire rockets into Israel, heightening tensions between the two sides a week after a deadly Israeli raid against a flotilla of aid and activists.
Israel didn't provide details on either incident. In the naval engagement, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Force said only that an unspecified naval unit encountered a "squad" of people in diving suits "on their way to a terrorist attack," and engaged them. He didn't say how many were killed, but hospital workers in Gaza said four bodies had been retrieved and taken to local hospitals.
http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-IT894_02isra_D_20100607060956.jpg
Palestinians inspect the boat of four Palestinian men who were killed by Israeli forces off the central Gaza strip on Monday.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, a militant affiliate of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, said the four men killed were members of its marine unit, who were training in Gaza's waters, according to a text message sent to journalists and reported by the Associated Press.
The IDF spokesman said that, later in the day, an airstrike targeted militants in northern Gaza who were preparing to launch a rocket into Israel. Amid the fallout from the flotilla attack, militants have launched a handful of rockets into Israel, though there have been no casualties.
Hamas has largely refrained from launching rockets into Gaza since a December to January 2009 offensive by Israel. While the militant Palestinian group controls Gaza, it hasn't always been able to keep other militants from launching attacks on Israel.
The recent violence along the Gaza border further raises tensions between Israel and Hamas in the aftermath of the flotilla attack. Last Monday, Israel forces boarded a flotilla of six ships attempting to an Israeli-enforced naval blockade of Gaza, killing nine activists aboard one of the ships.
link (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703303904575292040235565562.html?m od=WSJ_hps_LEFTTopStories)
Israel didn't provide details on either incident. In the naval engagement, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Force said only that an unspecified naval unit encountered a "squad" of people in diving suits "on their way to a terrorist attack," and engaged them. He didn't say how many were killed, but hospital workers in Gaza said four bodies had been retrieved and taken to local hospitals.
http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-IT894_02isra_D_20100607060956.jpg
Palestinians inspect the boat of four Palestinian men who were killed by Israeli forces off the central Gaza strip on Monday.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, a militant affiliate of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, said the four men killed were members of its marine unit, who were training in Gaza's waters, according to a text message sent to journalists and reported by the Associated Press.
The IDF spokesman said that, later in the day, an airstrike targeted militants in northern Gaza who were preparing to launch a rocket into Israel. Amid the fallout from the flotilla attack, militants have launched a handful of rockets into Israel, though there have been no casualties.
Hamas has largely refrained from launching rockets into Gaza since a December to January 2009 offensive by Israel. While the militant Palestinian group controls Gaza, it hasn't always been able to keep other militants from launching attacks on Israel.
The recent violence along the Gaza border further raises tensions between Israel and Hamas in the aftermath of the flotilla attack. Last Monday, Israel forces boarded a flotilla of six ships attempting to an Israeli-enforced naval blockade of Gaza, killing nine activists aboard one of the ships.
link (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703303904575292040235565562.html?m od=WSJ_hps_LEFTTopStories)