A Palestinian resistance group on Thursday dared the Israeli army to reveal the fate of one of its officers before producing the officer's ID.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an umbrella resistance movement affiliated with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement, also mentioned the Israeli officer's name in a video posted on its website.
It did not, however, say whether it had captured or killed the officer in question.
In the video, a masked fighter claims that several brigades fighters had clashed with Israeli forces in the town of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army, for its part, has yet to comment on the claims.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement, was established in 2000.
Fatah leaders, however, insist that their movement does not boast a military arm.
Israel accuses Palestinian faction Hamas of holding the remains of an Israeli officer killed in clashes with Palestinian resistance fighters in the southern Gaza Strip's city of Rafah on August 1.
Israel's weeks-long offensive on the Gaza Strip has left at least 1961 Palestinians dead and more than 10,000 injured, the vast majority of them civilians.
According to Israeli data, 64 Israeli troops have been killed in combat in the Gaza Strip since hostilities began early last month, while three civilians have been killed by Palestinian rocket fire.
By Ola Attalah
englishnews@aa.com.tr
www.aa.com.tr/en
