An Islamic Hamas militant was killed and
two others wounded Saturday night by Israeli tanks firing at the Sheja'eya
neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City, medics and Hamas said.
The Hamas armed wing al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement that one of
its militants was killed and two others wounded by tank shells near the border
between eastern Gaza City and Israel.
Medics at Shiffa Hospital said that Bilal al-Sharabasi was died and one of the
two injured had serious shrapnel wounds.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak had earlier threatened a large-scale
military operation against Gaza militants, mainly the Hamas movement.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said that the movement is taking the Israeli
threats seriously.
"The only choice then will be resistance against an Israeli attack,"
he said.
Hamas has ruled Gaza since June 2007, when the militant group
expelled Palestinian Authority forces under President Mahmoud Abbas from the
rival Fatah party, dpa reported.