IDF strike kills 5 militants; South on alert for Qassams

[bemildred]

Mission accomplished!

The defense establishment expects that the indirect understanding with Hamas over a cease-fire in Gaza is likely to collapse today, as Islamic Jihad is preparing to fire Qassam rockets at the Negev in response to the killings of four of its members on the West Bank yesterday.

Five armed and wanted Palestinians were killed in total by Israeli Police anti-terrorist forces in two separate incidents. In the first incident yesterday morning in Kfar Tzaida east of Tulkarem, Salah Karkur, 27, of Islamic Jihad was killed during an attempt to arrest him by a combined operation of the IDF, Border Police and Shin Bet.

The second incident, in which four men were killed, occured in Bethlehem. Muhamad Shahade, one of the most wanted terrorist suspects of Islamic Jihad, was killed when the Israel Police special anti-terrorist unit attempted to arrest him. He was killed along with Imad Kamil and Isa Marzuka.

The fourth gunman killed was Ahmad Al-Balbul, a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, who had been held in detention by the Palestinian Authority for a long period.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/963899.html