Israeli Naval Patrol Kills Four Palestinian Militants off Gaza Coast

At least four Palestinian militants have been killed by an Israeli naval patrol off the Gaza coast, reported Reuters citing Hamas security officials and the Israeli army.

“An Israeli naval patrol spotted a boat with four men in diving suits on their way to carry out a terror attack and fired at them,” an Israeli army spokesman was quoted as saying.

He also said that the patrol had confirmed hitting its targets, report said.

However, he didn’t reveal what the army thought divers intended to do, said report.

Report quoted Hamas security sources as saying that four bodies were found and a fifth man was missing and presumed dead.

The incident took place eight days after Israeli marines killed nine Turks in violent confrontations on a Turkish cruise ship which was part of a six-vessel convoy that set out to challenge an Israeli-led blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

The Israeli navy on Saturday prevented a second attempt by pro-Palestinian activists to break the blockade on Gaza.

According to Israeli media, today’s sea patrol was carried out by naval commandos from the same unit that boarded the Gaza-bound ships last week; however, the military spokesman refused to comment on this, reports said.

In another incident in the Gaza strip today, Hamas security and medical officials said that an Israeli aircraft fired a missile at a group of militants in an open area near Gaza City, seriously wounding one man, said report.

An Israeli army spokesman confirmed that a missile had targeted a group of militants trying to fire a rocket at Israel, report said.