FIREFIGHT

Eight Dead in ‘Botched’ Israeli Raid in Gaza

Deaths now threaten unofficial ceasefire.

Israeli military forces have killed seven Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and an Israeli officer is also dead, after what appears to be a botched undercover raid. The operation took place Sunday night in southeast Gaza, the first-known ground incursion there by Israeli forces since the last war in 2014. The raid and retaliatory firefight have threatened to destroy the unofficial ceasefire in the area—more than a dozen rockets were launched from the Hamas-controlled enclave overnight. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut short a visit to Paris, where he had joined world leaders for the World War I commemoration. Israeli media reported the operation had been launched to gather intelligence and public radio station Kan reported the Israelis had their cover blown as a result of a technical malfunction. Six of the Palestinians killed reportedly belonged to Hamas and the seventh was a member of the militant Popular Resistance Committees.

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