Zee Media Bureau/Supriya Jha
Israeli strikes in Gaza killed a total of 24 people on Thursday, reports quoted emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra as saying.
A top Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri confirmed that the armed wing of Hamas, namely the Qassam Brigades had executed this "heroic operation", said Reuters.
"The popular will was exercised throughout our occupied land, and culminated in the heroic operation by the Qassam Brigades in imprisoning the three settlers in Hebron," Reuters quoted him as telling delegates at the International Union of Islamic Scholars in Istanbul on Wednesday.
As the IDF hails the killing of three top Hamas commanders, the Islamist group has claimed the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens.
meanwhile, the IDF has hailed the killing of three top Hamas commanders saying it ended their "career of terrorism".
The body of Hamas commander Mohammed Deif's daughter, has been recovered from the ruins, reported the Haaretz citing a Hamas website.
An Israeli strike yesterday targeted Mohammed Deif, the chief of Hamas armed wing al-Qassam Brigade, however his daughter and wife were killed. Reports quoted a Hamas source saying that the chief was still alive and calling the shots in the war.
As Palestinians die by the dozens in Israeli strikes, the Israeli Foreign Ministry has informed of a man suffering serious injuries in a rocket fired from Gaza at a building that housed a three-year old child too.
Also Read: Slain Hamas commanders among Israel's most wanted
If a report in the London-based pan-Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat is to be believed, the recent truce talks in Cairo might have been torpedoed by Qatar, as the rich nation did not want Egypt-led talks to succeed.
According to a report in Al-Hayat that quoted a Fatah official, Qatar threatened to expel Hamas leader Khalid Meshaal if it accepted an Egyptian peace proposal.
The report further adds that Hamas demanded that Egypt grant Qatar a role in resolving the Gaza crisis, but Cairo did not relish the idea, putting a condition that Qatar must formally apologise for its policies in Egypt after Morsi's overthrow.
According to the medics, an Israeli strike hit a funeral procession in Gaza, killing four, tweeted a doctore from al-Shifa hospital in Gaza.
Also Read:Four killed in Israeli raid on Gaza City funeral: Medics
Even after Hamas threatened to attack Israel's Ben Gurion international airport after a strike killed its chief's daughter and wife, the flights there are operating normally, officials said reportedly.
Also Read:Tel Aviv flights working normally despite Hamas threat
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has likened the Hamas to the barbaric Sunni extremists from Iraq and Syria – the ISIS, calling them the branches of the same tree.
In a statement issued yesterday evening, Netanyahu said that the entire world was shocked by t he beheading of a US journalist by the ISIS, and that Israel too was facing similar savagery at the hands of Hamas.
“Hamas is like ISIS, ISIS is like Hamas... they are the branches of the same tree.. entire world is shocked by the beheading of a US journalist... we face similar savagery... by those (Hamas) who want to rocket to cities, conduct mass killings, murder children, teenager, and use their own people as human shields they are enemies of all civilised countries,” said Netanyahu.
Justifying the killing of two Hamas commanders, the Israeli Defence Forces said, they were high-ranking Hamas commanders responsible for major terror attacks against Israelis.
The IDF tweeted that while Abu Shamala, commander of Hamas forces in S Gaza, was directly involved in dozens of terror attacks, including the murders of IDF soldiers; Raed Attar played a major role in tunnel infiltrations, terror attacks that killed Israelis, and the kidnapping of SFC Gilad Shalit.
After a strike failed to kill Hamas military chief, Israel on Thursday killed three top Hamas commanders namely, Mohammed Abu Shamala, Mohammed Barhoum and Raed al-Attar, who died in the air strike near the southern town of Rafah.
Also Read: Hamas says three top Gaza commanders killed in Israeli air strike
As the Israel-Gaza war resumed on Tuesday after a 10-day lull, the cross-border fire began, with Israel pummelling Hamas targets in Gaza and as the IDF said, over 213 rockets were fired at Israel by Hamas so far.
After a 10-day period of quiet, heavy fighting resumed between Israel and Hamas resulting in more than 20 casualties on Wednesday. More than 2100 Palestinians have died in the Operation Protective Edge that was launched by Israel on July 8 to halt Hamas rockets.
Israel recalled its negotiators from Cairo after Gaza violated the ceasefire by firing three rockets towards Israel.
Egypt, which has been sincerely trying to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, today expressed its "profound regret at the breach of the ceasefire in Gaza" and urged both the warring sides to resume negotiations.
First Published: Thursday, August 21, 2014, 13:08
