2 dead following Israeli incursion into Gaza, Israeli forces shoot 65-year-old woman

Ma'an - Israeli forces entered Gaza east of Khan Younis and exchanged fire with fighters near the border, with two reported dead according to Israeli media and military.

Palestinian officials say medics have not confirmed the deaths.

Witnesses said Israeli forces shelled the area, hitting agricultural lands in the area of the sealed Kissufim crossing, and entered into Gaza proximately 100 meters.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said soldiers "identified two infiltrators" near the border, and said she could not comment on how the two were attempting to enter Israel.

She said there was an exchange of fire, confirmed no deaths or injuries of Israeli soldiers. A statement from the military spokesman's office later said soldiers confirmed that two men had been killed during the exchange of fire.

The statement said two senior officers were traveling to the scene to investigate the "circumstances surrounding the infiltration."

Woman shot near Kerem Shalom

Palestinian medical and security sources in the Gaza Strip reported the injury of a 65-year-old woman, identified as Salma Abu Shallouf, who was said to have been shot by Israeli fire in the southern Gaza Strip.
A coordinator of medical services in the Gaza Strip Adham Abu Silmiyya said Abu Shallouf was hit once in each leg near the southern Gaza border and evacuated to hospital.

An Israeli military spokesman said he was not familiar with any Israeli activity in the region where the woman was injured, but said he would look into the report.

Gaza turmoil

Overnight, the Israeli military reported the firing of a projectile from Gaza into the western Negev, with no injuries reported. The Al-Aqsa Brigades, an armed group with allegiances to Fatah, claimed the launch of the projectile.

In a statement sent to Ma'an, the brigades said they worked in conjunction with the Imad Mughniyeh Brigades, also affiliated with Fatah, to fire two homemade projectiles eastward from the Strip, and a third toward the Kissufim military base.

The statement said the fire was a "response to the Israeli crimes against the Freedom Flotilla."

The events follow directly on the heels of an Israeli combat operation at sea Monday morning, which saw armed soldiers repel from helicopters onto six aid ships attempting to break the blockade on Gaza, and shoot dead at least ten of the anti-siege activists...   Full story