ISTANBUL
Three commanders of the Ezzeddin al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian resistance faction Hamas, have been killed in an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip.
In a statement issued Thursday, the Brigades said that commanders Mohamed Abu Shamala, Raed al-Attar and Mohamed Barhoum had been killed. The statement gave no further details about the deaths.
"The assassination of the Qassam commanders is a big Israeli crime that will not break the will of the Palestinian people or their resistance," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a press release.
"This crime will not weaken the resistance and Israel will pay the price," he added.
Thousands of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip joined later in the day the funeral procession for the three senior commanders.
Qassam fires rocket at Israel's Ben Gurion airport
The Ezzeddin al-Qassam Brigades fired a home-made rocket at Israel's Ben Gurion airport Thursday.
In a statement, the brigades said that its fighters had fired an M75 rocket at the airport, located some 15 km southeast of Tel Aviv.
The move came one day after a Hamas spokesman called on international airline carriers to halt all flights to the airport as of Thursday to avoid being struck by incoming rockets.
According to Israeli radio, numerous flights to the airport have been rescheduled for "security reasons."
Violence flared again Tuesday following the collapse of Egypt-brokered indirect talks aimed at reaching a permanent cease-fire deal, with Israel accusing Palestinian resistance factions of violating a temporary truce with a rocket barrage.
The claim was denied by Hamas, however, which in turn accused Israel of attempting to derail cease-fire talks in Cairo.
231 Gaza rockets fired since Tuesday
An Israeli army spokesman said 231 rockets had been fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip since the collapse on Tuesday of a temporary cease-fire between Palestinian resistance factions and the self-proclaimed Jewish state.
"231 rockets have been launched at Israel since Hamas ended the cease-fire," Israeli army spokesman Peter Lerner said Thursday on Twitter.
He said 37 rockets had been intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile defense system, while 16 others had simply fallen to the ground inside the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, the Israeli cabinet on Thursday approved a request by Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon for the mobilization of 10,000 army reservists for its ongoing military offensive against the Gaza Strip.
These troops will be used for both combat and support operations, according to Israeli daily Haaretz.
Israel had discharged 27,000 reservists following the withdrawal of ground troops from the Gaza Strip early this month.
Palestinian resistance factions in the Gaza Strip have executed three people and detained seven others for spying for Israel, a pro-Hamas Internet website reported Thursday.
"The seven were detained while spying on the [Palestinian] resistance and Palestinian homes," the Almajid website reported.
Three other spies had previously been executed, according to the site.
23 injured Gazans arrive in Turkey
On Wednesday night, 23 injured Gazans, including 14 children, arrived in Istanbul for treatment, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Emrullah Isler confirmed.
Isler said this was the third evacuation from Gaza to Turkey; "Turkey will continue to conduct airlifts for injured Palestinians for medical treatment as far as conditions allow. There are people with various wounds, broken legs and arms," said Isler.
The medical evacuation was coordinated by the Turkish disaster and emergency agency, AFAD, in cooperation with Turkey's international development agency, TIKA, the Health Ministry, the Foreign Ministry and the Turkish Red Crescent.
Turkey's international development agency provides daily food parcels to around 15,000 families in Gaza amid the ongoing Israeli onslaught, and purchased power generators for the hospitals.
The agency will build 1,000 prefab houses in Gaza in an effort to rebuild the city.
Since hostilities began on July 7, at least 2,065 Palestinians have been killed and more than 10,000 others injured in relentless Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
According to Israeli figures, at least 67 Israelis -- 64 soldiers and three civilians -- have been killed.
Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has been crippled by an Israeli blockade that has badly affected the local economy and wreaked havoc on the lives of residents.
www.aa.com.tr/en
