Israel on Friday decided to close the three checkpoints connecting the Gaza Strip to Israel and Egypt until the Palestinians take steps to fight "terrorism," Israel's Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and army chief Moshe Ya'alon said, after six Israelis were killed in a Palestinian attack at one of the checkpoints.
The Israelis were killed in a Palestinian attack on the Karni crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip.
Four Israelis were wounded in the Thursday night attack, three seriously. The attack began at about 10:45 P.M., by using a large explosive device - which experts estimate weighed more than 120 kilograms. After the blast, Palestinians then opened fire on the Israelis working at the crossing, including security guards, with mortars and light arms. Israeli troops at the scene fired back, and three Palestinians were killed.
A short time after the attack, an Israeli helicopter fired two missiles at a medical centre in Deir el Balah refugee camp run by an Islamic charity, Al Salah, with links to Hamas, witnesses said.
Three groups claimed joint responsibility for the attack: Hamas, the Popular Resistance Committees and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an offshoot of Abbas' Fatah movement. "The attack was a continuation of resistance," said Abu Abir of the Popular Resistance Committees in a joint claim of responsibility. It called it a response to Israel's killing of a West Bank activist and other Palestinians in recent days.
Hamas Islamic militants said they had hoped to kidnap Israeli soldiers to swap them for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
Abu Abir said the attack was "further proof that the enemy will leave the Gaza Strip under fire from the strikes of the Palestinian resistance."
Palestinians identified one of the suicide bombers as Muhaned Al-Mansi, 18, from the Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip.
On Friday afternoon Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas condemned the Karni attack as well as Israeli raids in the territories. "These attacks and what Israel did last week by killing nine Palestinians do not benefit peace," Abbas told reporters.
