Hamas-member in Gaza killed, Israeli soldier wounded

An Israeli soldier was seriously wounded on Wednesday when Palestinian snipers opened fire at  troops guarding construction work at the security fence near the southern Gaza Strip. The Israeli army opened tank and aircraft fire in response to the sniper shots, The Israeli army sources say that the sniper was affiliated with Hamas.Witnesses told Ma'an that Israeli forces fired heavily in border areas in Khuzaa and al-Qarara east of Khan Younis, killing Taysir al-Smeiri, 33, and injuring two others. Hamas said al-Smeiri was the head of its reconnaissance unit in southern Gaza.
Last weekend, for the first time since the war ended on August 26, Israeli warplanes struck southern Gaza after militants fired a rocket over the border. On Nov. 23, Fadil Muhammad Halawah, 32, was shot dead by Israeli forces while hunting birds east of Jabaliya.