GAZA, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of Palestinian mourners and militants buried on Monday seven Palestinian militants in southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis amid calls of "painful revenge from Israel."
Mourners and masked militants wearing masks and holding guns carried the bodies of the seven militants from the hospital in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza Strip and went to their homes for a goodbye look.
The bodies of the militants belong to six members of al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas armed wing and one member of Salahidin Brigades, the armed wing of the pro-Hamas Popular Resistance Committees.
The mourners and the militants carried the bodies of the seven militants wrapped with green Hamas flags and took them from their homes and went to the mosque for the last prayers before taking them to the graveyard for burial.
The seven militants were killed on Sunday night in an exchange of fire with a special Israeli army force that entered into an area east of the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis.
According to Israeli army and Hamas armed wing, the soldiers of the special were in a civilian car that drove three kilometers into an area that is under Hamas militants' control.
Hamas armed wing said in a leaflet that the aim of the Israeli special military operation into the area of Abbassan, east of Khan Younis, was to kidnap a senior Hamas Military Commander called Noor Baraka.
The group said that when the members of the special force were discovered, they killed Baraka and ran away towards the borderline area with Israel. Hamas militants opened fire and chased the car to the border.
"While our fighters were chasing the car, Israeli war jets intensively struck our fighters and killed six militants," said Hamas leaflet, adding that "we are certain that one of the Israeli members was killed and others wounded."
After the operation was over, Gaza militants fired dozens of rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel.
"Hamas armed wing and the Palestinian armed resistance defeated the Israeli army that considers itself one of the most powerful armies in the world," said the leaflet, adding "our armed resistance will keep defending our land."
Hanan Baraka, Noor Baraka's sister, told reporters that her brother was very kind to her and to the entire family, adding that killing him in such a way was "an awful crime and that not only Hamas, but the Palestinians will revenge his blood."
The mourners carrying the coffins of the seven militants on their shoulders, shouting slogans of revenge.
Hassan Abdo, a Gaza-based political analyst, told Xinhua that what happened last night in eastern Khan Younis was "a clear Israeli violation and a breaching to the calm understandings brokered by Egypt."
Meanwhile, the join committee that comprises the Palestinian factions' armed wing, including Hamas movement, held Israel responsible for the attack and for any future consequences, adding that the militant groups are able to defeat any aggression waged on the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian Authority condemned the fresh escalation in the Gaza Strip and the killing of seven Palestinians in airstrikes on eastern Khan Younis.
Majdi al-Khalidi, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told Palestine Radio that "the Israeli escalation campaign in the Gaza Strip is condemned and shows that Israel is a state of occupation."
