Israeli troops kill at least six Palestinians in northern Gaza

Israeli soldiers operating in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun on Monday shot and killed at least six Palestinians and wounded 20, Palestinian hospital sources said.

On Monday morning, an Israeli unit identified and opened fire at a group of armed men, hitting 10 of them and killing at least six, the Israeli army said.

Earlier, the pan-Arab al-Jazeera TV channel said that three Palestinians were killed and 15 others injured in an Israeli shelling in the area.

One of the dead was a senior member of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), an umbrella of Palestinian militant groups in Gaza.

The operation appeared to be targeting Ata Shindari, who led the group's rocket-launching branch.

Shindari and one of his brothers were killed in the operation, said Abu Abir, the group's spokesman.

Meanwhile, an Israeli reconnaissance unit of the Givati Infantry Brigade operated in an area east of Beit Lahya as part of efforts to combat Qassam rocket cells, Army Radio reported.

Source: Xinhua