GAZA CITY, Oct 24: Three Israeli soldiers and four Palestinians were killed as a flareup of violence swept the Gaza Strip on Friday.

“A Palestinian terrorist armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle and several grenades crossed the security fence around Netzarim and penetrated the perimeter” of a military base inside the seafront settlement, the army said.

“The terrorist opened fired at several soldiers in their housing sector, killing three and wounding two,” it said in a statement. “An Israeli unit which rushed to the scene chased and gunned down the terrorist.”

The army named the dead as female sergeants Adi Osman and Snehur Senior, both 19, and a male colleague, chief sergeant Alon Abrahami, 20. The three were killed in their sleep in a caravan, according to military radio.

The night-time raiders infiltrated the heavily-guarded Netzarim settlement under the cover of fog, it said.

Osman’s sister, Anat, told public radio that Adi was unarmed. “Her weapon was taken away from her a month ago because of budgetary restrictions,” Anat told the radio.

The attack was claimed jointly by the Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Hamas militant Samir Fuda, 22, from Jabalya refugee camp, was killed, and his Jihad co-assailant escaped.

In a statement, the groups said the raid was to mark the eighth anniversary of former Islamic Jihad chief Fathi Shaqaqi’s assassination in Malta by suspected members of Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad.

Hundreds of Hamas supporters in Jabalya staged a demonstration after the attack on the settlement to call for further anti-Israeli strikes.

In the central Gaza Strip, 11-year-old Mohammed Hamaydah was killed when soldiers posted near the Kfar Darom settlement opened fire in the direction of a group of children.

Elsewhere in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian was killed by troops as he approached the northern settlement of Elei Sinai. His body was found in the morning next to the settlement’s security fence.

Palestinian sources and local residents said the 34-year-old man named as Ismail Ayad, was a mentally retarded resident of nearby Beit Lahya.—AFP