By Mohamed Majed
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - The Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, said on Friday that it confronted an Israeli force that was attempting to carry out a landing operation from the beach of the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip.
In a statement, the Brigades said “the enemy attempted, at dawn on Friday, to carry out a landing operation on the Rafah beach, south of the Gaza Strip.”
“The operation was discovered by our members where they clashed with the enemy,” the Brigades said, adding that “this required the intervention of an Israeli Air Force.”
“The Israeli naval forces then fled toward the sea, leaving behind a quantity of ammunition,” it added.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army unveiled, later on Friday, an incursion it carried out Thursday night into the south of the Gaza Strip from the sea side.
“Naval commando forces carried out a raid operation from the sea in the southern Gaza Strip last night,” the army said in a statement.
“The naval commando members destroyed Hamas infrastructure and were active inside a compound used by members of the organization's naval force,” the army added.
The Israeli army also stated that “other naval and air force vessels participated in the operation, and the forces left the area after completing the mission.”
The Israeli army previously announced limited land incursions into the Gaza Strip, but this is the first time it has announced an incursion through the sea.
The conflict in Gaza began when the Palestinian group Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood – a multi-pronged surprise attack on Oct. 7 that included a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel by land, sea, and air.
Hamas said the incursion was in retaliation for the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and growing violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.
The Israeli military then launched a relentless bombardment of Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.
Over 8,700 people have been killed in the conflict, including at least 7,326 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis.
* Writing by Ikram Kouachi