Two IDF soldiers killed, two injured in battle in Rafah

The two wounded soldiers were airlifted to the Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva. Both are in stable condition, Army Radio reported Friday evening.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, linked to Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the attack.

The soldiers involved in Friday’s incident were part of a unit stationed in a house of an elderly Palestinian woman in the Brazil refugee camp in the town.

The troops had been in the house for almost two days, and were part of a network of forces guarding soldiers scouring the area for the remains of five IDF soldiers killed in a bomb attack on an armored personnel carrier travelling on the Philadelphi Route on Wednesday.

On Friday afternoon, the woman asked to leave the house in order to buy food. When she returned, the soldier who opened the door for her was wounded by Palestinian fire, and later died of his wounds.

Rescue forces who arrived at the scene in an APC were met with heavy gunfire, during which several other soldiers were hit.

Friday's deaths bring the total number of soldiers killed in Gaza over the past four days to 13.

The five IDF soldiers were killed on the Philadelphi Route on Wednesday when Palestinian militants blew up their armored personnel carrier. The blast was exacerbated by the huge amount of explosive material that the troops were carrying at the time.

A similar incident took place in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on Wednesday, killing six IDF soldiers. In both cases, further troops were sent in to retrieve the remains of the soldiers.

Three soldiers buried
Three of the five soldiers killed in the attack were buried Friday afternoon, after forensic testing confirmed their identities late Thursday night.

Corporal Elad Cohen, 20, of Jerusalem, was laid to rest 1 P.M. Friday at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in the capital; Sergeant Lior Vishinski, 20, from Ramat Gan, was buried 2 P.M. Friday in the Kiryat Shaul military cemetery; and Sergeant-Major Aiman Gadir, 24, of Bir Makhsur, was buried 2 P.M. Friday at the cemetery in his hometown.

IDF Chief Rabbi Yisrael Weiss was involved in the tests to confirm their identities, which were carried out in the Institute of Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir, in Tel Aviv. After the identities were confirmed, Weiss went to the homes of the soldiers killed to inform the families of a formal declaration of death, allowing for the soldiers to buried.

The identities of the bodies of the other two soldiers killed Wednesday - Lieutenant Aviv Hakani, 23, of Ashdod, and Sergeant Za'ur (Zohar) Smelev, 19, of Ofakim - have not yet been confirmed. All five were killed during a mission on the Philadelphi route to seek and destroy arms-smuggling tunnels in Rafah, along the Egyptian border.

At about 3 A.M. Thursday, representatives of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society gave the IDF the remains of the soldiers killed Tuesday, after Palestinian militants had threatened to use the body parts as ransom.

Also Thursday, at least 12 Palestinians were killed in clashes with IDF troops in the Gaza Strip during fierce fighting Thursday.

Mofaz: IDF operations in Gaza essential
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Thursday that the 11 soldiers killed in separate APC bombings in the Gaza Strip over the past two days died in an essential and unavoidable battle.

Mofaz, speaking at a press conference in Tel Aviv, said Israel Defense Forces efforts to bring the troops to proper burial continue amid constant fighting.

Mofaz, who met earlier Thursday with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and high-ranking security officials, said the war on terror will continue, utilizing all necessary means in order to safeguard the security of Israeli citizens.

He added that no one intends to flee from the Gaza Strip.

Troops took control of several houses in the Rafah area in order to protect the soldiers searching for any remains of the soldiers, Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon said, adding that the operation was being carried out in a restrained manner to avoid civilian casualties.

Also Thursday, Sharon thanked Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for the assistance his country has given Israel in helping recover the remains of the soldiers killed this week.

Sharon also extended his thanks to the head of the Egyptian intelligence services, Omar Suleiman, for making a special effort to recover the remains.

Mubarak told Sharon of his wish to tighten cooperation between the two countries and advance Sharon's plan to disengage from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank.

Ya'alon said Thursday the Egyptians were conducting searches and allowing IDF troops to search for the remains inside Egyptian territory. Sources in the Palestinian Authority said that to the best of their knowledge, Palestinian organizations were not in possession of any remains from Wednesday's attack.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/427657.html