GAZA CITY
Ten Hamas fighters were killed Monday in the northern Gaza Strip, which continues to reel under a devastating two-week-long Israeli military onslaught in which hundreds of Palestinians have been killed.
In a statement, the Ezzeddin al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' armed wing, said the fighters had been killed "during an airdrop operation behind Israeli army lines in the northern [Gaza Strip] town of Beit Hanoun."
An Israeli army spokesman said earlier that ten Palestinian "infiltrators" had been killed inside Israel.
Since July 7, at least 509 Palestinians have been killed – mostly civilians – and more than 3150 injured in unrelenting Israeli attacks on the besieged coastal enclave.
Sunday was the deadliest day of Israel's two-week-long onslaught, with at least 110 Palestinians – including 72 in Shujaya, a residential area of eastern Gaza City – killed by Israeli air and artillery attacks.
Israel's military operation, dubbed "Operation Protective Edge," is the self-proclaimed Jewish state's third major offensive against the densely-populated Gaza Strip – which is home to some 1.8 million Palestinians – within the last six years.
By Ola Attalah
www.aa.com.tr/en
