Israeli special forces assassinate top Hamas commander after crossing into Gaza Strip before deadly gun battle
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut short his visit to Paris and rushed back to Israel to deal with the crisis
A TOP Hamas commander has been assassinated during an Israeli Special Forces undercover operation inside Gaza.
Yesterday’s clash left seven Palestinians dead – including local commander Nour Baraka – along with an Israeli army officer.
There were no reports of injuries or damage in Israel, but the military said a lieutenant-colonel, identified only as "M", had been killed in the raid and another officer wounded.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut short his visit to Paris to commemorate the centenary of the end of the First World War, and rushed back to Israel hours after the army officer and Palestinians were killed after an incursion into the Gaza Strip.
The undercover raid has been described as "botched" by news agencies, and .
Israel's chief military spokesman said the special forces had not been dispatched to assassinate Hamas commanders, a tactic that led to wider conflict in the past and which has largely been abandoned.
The spokesman, Brigadier-General Ronen Manelis, told Army Radio that covert missions were mounted frequently - comments that suggested the Israeli force may have been gathering intelligence.
Hamas said that during Sunday's fighting, assailants in a passing vehicle opened fire on a group of its armed men, killing Baraka, reports Associated Press.
A pursuit ensued and witnesses told the agency that Israeli aircraft fired more than 40 missiles into the area.
The Hamas military wing, Izzedine al-Qassam, said that in Sunday's incursion, Israeli undercover forces drove about two miles (3km) into southeastern Gaza and shot and killed Baraka, the group's commander in the town of Khan Younis.
Qassam members discovered the car and chased it, prompting Israeli airstrikes that killed several people, the group said.
Palestinian officials added that in addition to Baraka, five other Hamas men and a member of the Popular Resistance Committees were killed.
Hamas said the Israeli actions dealt a blow to Egyptian, Qatari and UN efforts to broker a long-term ceasefire between the Palestinian group and Israel and ease an Israeli blockade that has deepened economic hardship in Gaza.
The organisation had received nearly £12million ($15m) in Qatari-donated cash via Israel on Friday to pay for civil servants' salaries and fuel to address Gaza's energy crisis.
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It was not clear if the burst of violence would derail the arrangements which are aimed at preventing a further deterioration of conditions in Gaza, under blockade by Israel and Egypt since a 2007 Hamas takeover.
Hamas is demanding an expansion of the permissible fishing zone off the Israeli-controlled Gaza coast, uninterrupted flow of fuel to mitigate chronic power shortages and the lifting of Israeli restrictions on exports and imports.
In return, Israel wants quiet and an end to the border protests.
No new rocket launches were reported his morning.