Palestinian Killed in Israeli Airstrike in Southern Gaza

Israeli military forces killed a Palestinian man Wednesday believed to be a member of Hamas during a firefight along the border with the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military said in a statement that it returned fire from snipers in southern Gaza after a routine patrol on the Israeli side of the border.

“Following the sniper attack on the Gaza border, IDF (Israel Defense Forces) and ground forces responded immediately to the threat,” the Israeli military said in a tweet on its official account.

Gaza hospital officials and the Israeli army confirmed that an Israeli soldier was also wounded.

Hamas sources identified the man as Tayseer Asmairi, 33, a member of its armed wing monitoring the southern Gaza Strip.

“This is a grave escalation … The occupation is fully responsible to all of the consequences of the escalation. The resistance has a right to defend itself and its people,” said a Hamas spokesperson.

This attack comes days after the Israeli military carried out airstrikes on a Hamas facility in the Khan Younis area in southern Gaza.