An Israeli soldier died of wounds suffered in a gunbattle Thursday with armed Palestinians near the Erez crossing between the northern Gaza Strip and Israel, bringing to two the number of soldiers killed on the day, the army said, cited by AFP.
He was identified as Sergeant Samer Hussein, a 19-year-old Arab Israeli.
Another soldier remains in very critical condition, the army said.
Earlier the army said an Israeli army officer, Lieutenant Edward Meshnik, 21, had been killed in an explosion that ripped through an Israeli-Palestinian liaison office near the Jewish settlement of Neve Dekalim in the southern Gaza Strip.
According to reports, however, the number could have reached four.
Albawaba.com correspondent in Ramallah said that an Israeli soldier was killed when the vehicle he was on turned over after Palestinians poured oil on the road. The incident took place at Anata village to the north east of Jerusalem.
Another Israeli soldier was also killed on Thursday and two others were critically injured in an exchange of fire near the Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing point, according to Maariv online edition in its Internet edition.
Meanwhile, a Hamas military leader was killed in Nablus the same day in a helicopter attack on his car. Ibrahim Abdul Karim Bani Oudeh, 30 and father of five, was assassinated a day after he was released from Juneid Prison in Nablus where he was jailed for belonging to Hamas’s military wing, Izzidin Al Qassam Battalions.
Another Palestinian was killed early in the morning at Beit Hanoun in a fire exchange with Israeli troops after armed Palestinians blasted a bomb at an Israeli patrol – (Several Sources)
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