An Israeli airstrike on Thursday killed a Hamas commander who, the Israeli military said, was involved in the 2006 capture of a soldier still being held by Gaza militants. The Hamas movement confirmed Nafez Mansur's death and said it would “respond to this crime at the adequate time and place.” Mansur, 40, was killed near his home in Rafah, according to Muawiyah Hassanein who heads the Gaza emergency services. In another incident east of Khan Yunis, a Palestinian civilian in his sixties, Mohammed Abu Daqqa, was killed by Israeli fire, which also left three others wounded, medics said. The Israeli army also wounded a Palestinian in a ground operation east of the town of Rafah, Hassanein added. The attack coincided with Egyptian efforts to broker a ceasefire between Palestinian militants in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and Israel. Meanwhile, in Occupied Jerusalem, Israeli Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit on Thursday insisted the Egyptian-mediated Gaza truce proposal must be rejected, claiming that Hamas would only use it to boost its military capabilities. “No deal whatsoever should be reached with Hamas, because this ... movement would exploit any truce to gain strength, perfect its weapons and prepare for the next confrontation,” Sheetrit, a member of the security cabinet, told public radio. In Gaza, Islamic Jihad said on Thursday it would not formally sign on to an Egyptian-brokered truce with Israel but would not be the first to violate it. Adding new uncertainty to peace talks, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas underwent an unannounced heart test at a Jordanian hospital on Thursday. Aides to Abbas, 73, said he was doing well after a catheterization procedure meant to test for blockage in his blood vessels. He would be returning to the West Bank on Friday.
