Sources: 10 Palestinians killed in Gaza clashes
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Clashes during an Israeli military operation in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza killed 10 Palestinians overnight -- including civilians and militants -- and wounded 15 others, according to Palestinian medical and security sources.
The dead include a 35-year-old mother and five Palestinian militants, including Nahed Abu Ouda, a leader of Hamas' militant wing, Izzedine al Qassam, the sources said.
Israeli military sources said that Israeli soldiers shot nine people who they called militants during heavy exchanges of fire throughout the night Wednesday and into early morning.
The firefight began when Israeli soldiers were attacked by armed Palestinians Wednesday night, seriously injuring one soldier, the sources said.
The operation in Beit Hanoun began June 29, a day after Palestinian militants fired a Qassam rocket from northern Gaza into Sderot, Israel, killing two Israeli civilians.
Later, an Israeli military jeep traveling in southern Gaza on Thursday was struck by Palestinian militants, Israeli military sources said.
Israeli military sources said two officers were moderately wounded near the Jewish settlement of Morag.
In a leaflet distributed throughout Gaza, the Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an offshoot of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed joint responsibility for the attack on the military jeep.
In the southern Gaza refugee camp of Khan Younis, two Israeli soldiers were slightly wounded early Thursday when Palestinian militants fired an anti-tank missile at them, according to Israeli military sources.
The Israeli forces had demolished a number of abandoned buildings in Khan Younis used by Palestinian militants for firing mortars, the sources said.
On Tuesday, Israeli forces battled militants in the Ein Bei Ilma refugee camp of Nablus during an operation to round up wanted Palestinians.
One Israeli soldier died in the firefight and three were wounded, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
Palestinian medical sources said four Palestinians were killed, including two militants -- Yamin Faraj, the West Bank military leader for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and his deputy. Three Palestinians were wounded -- two women and a man.
Elsewhere, two armed Palestinians were killed Tuesday near an Israeli outpost on Kissufim Road, Israeli military and Palestinian security sources said.
According to Israeli military sources, two Palestinian militants opened fire on and threw grenades at the outpost. An explosive device was found near their bodies, the Israeli sources said.
Militant groups Islamic Jihad, Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Hamas' military wing are considered be terrorist organizations by Israel and have carried out deadly attacks on Israeli civilians as well as military targets.
