Gaza City, Gaza Strip – Israeli forces killed 11 militants Thursday in one of the deadliest days of combat since Hamas wrested control of Gaza last month, putting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict back at center stage after months of Palestinian infighting.
Israel called in aircraft, tanks and bulldozers to press its campaign against Gaza rocket squads, while Islamic militants laid mines and fired mortars at soldiers at the main Gaza-Israel passage.
Since sweeping out its Fatah rivals in a lightning campaign, Hamas has sought to solidify its regime administering crowded, chaotic, poverty-stricken Gaza. It has initiated few attacks on Israel but has not stopped other groups from firing rockets at Israeli towns almost daily, provoking Israeli military action and drawing Hamas forces in.
Fighting escalated quickly Thursday after an Israeli patrol just inside Gaza spotted armed militants approaching and called in an airstrike. That clash erupted close to the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, a site of frequent clashes between gunmen and Israelis.
Hospital officials said nine militants were killed, and Hamas identified six as its members. The other three were not immediately identified. Among the dead was Mohammed Siam, 37, the Hamas field commander in central Gaza, Hamas TV said.
Israeli aircraft later fired missiles at targets in the area, the army said. Hospital officials said two militants were killed.
Also Thursday, about 400 Fatah civil servants were prevented from entering their Gaza offices in an argument over the official weekend.
The Hamas-dictated workweek in Gaza is Saturday to Wednesday, with Thursday and Friday designated as the weekend. Prime Minister Salam Fay yad, who was appointed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to head a new government that excludes Hamas, recently announced the workweek runs Sunday through Thursday.
On Thursday, Hamas militiamen barred people from entering government offices, saying they were closed because it was the official weekend.
