MOSCOW, May 14. /TASS/: The Israeli army over the past few days has liquidated several hundred operatives of the movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Israel's 12th television channel quoted an anonymous security service official as saying.
According to the source, Thursday's strikes alone liquidated 20 high-ranking Hamas members. All in all, hundreds of Hamas members were neutralized in recent days. The Israeli army, according to the source, wiped out most of the Hamas facilities that made rockets and paralyzed the radicals' strategically crucial tunnel infrastructure in Gaza.
In the meantime, the army's press-service said the Air Force dealt more strikes against Hamas' underground launchers and also a facility from where aircraft were launched against central Israel.
The Israeli army and Palestinian groups in the Gaza strip have been exchanging rocket strikes since May 10, following unrest near the Al Aqsa Masque in East Jerusalem. An Israeli court's ruling to confiscate homes from Arab families in the Sheikh Jarrah residential area triggered the protests. Israel says the bombardments have killed seven of its citizens and injured 520 others. According to the Health Ministry of the coastal enclave, Israel's strikes against Gaza have left 119 Palestinians dead and more than 620 others injured.
