Hamas member martyred in Gaza; Palestinians vow revenge

The Israeli military says its troops have opened fire at two members of the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement near the besieged Gaza Strip’s fence, martyring one of them.

The Health Ministry in Gaza identified the Hamas officer as 28-year-old Mahmoud al-Adham, who was martyred east of Beit Hanoun in the northern strip.

Adham appeared to have been shot as he was trying to stop two youths from approaching the fence.

The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, said in a statement that the Israeli troops had deliberately opened fire to “hurt one of our fighters who was carrying out his job in preventing [Palestinians] from breaching the border fence.”

The brigades pledged not to let Adham’s death go “unpunished” and that Israel “would bear the consequences of this criminal act”.

The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades has observation points close to the fence.

The Gaza-based Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement also strongly condemned the killing and called it a "grave escalation" and threatened to retaliate.

At least 300 Palestinians have been martyred by Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip since massive anti-occupation protests began along the restive fence area in March 2018.

SS