Qassam Brigades denies Gaza commander assassination

GAZA CITY  

The Ezzeddin al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of Hamas, on Wednesday dismissed reports that the Israeli army had managed to assassinate senior commander Mohamed al-Sanwar in the Gaza Strip.

"Reports about Sanwar's assassination are baseless," the brigades said in a statement.

"Sanwar is doing his job and leading his men in the field," the statement said, dismissing the reports as "rumors by the Zionist enemy."

Sanwar has already escaped an assassination attempt with an Israeli airstrike against his car in 2006 in the Palestinian enclave.

Since July 7, Israel has pummeled the Gaza Strip with fierce air and naval bombardments with the ostensible aim of halting Palestinian rocket fire.

Last week, Israel stepped up its offensive to include ground operations, sending thousands of troops into the embattled coastal enclave.

Israel's offensive has left at least 693 Palestinians dead – mostly civilians.

Israel's "Operation Protective Edge" is the self-proclaimed Jewish state's third major offensive against the densely-populated strip – home to some 1.8 million Palestinians – within the last six years.

In 2008/9, over 1500 Palestinians were killed – the vast majority of them civilians – during Israel's three-week-long "Operation Cast Lead."

By Mustafa Haboosh

www.aa.com.tr/en