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Palestinians run following what police said was an Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza city. Photograph: Stringer/Reuters
Palestinians run following what police said was an Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza city. Photograph: Stringer/Reuters

Israel claims to have foiled amphibious Palestinian assault

This article is more than 9 years old
Footage shows two figures walking out of the surf on an Israeli beach north of Gaza and then militants being targeted by Israeli missiles

Israel claims to have foiled an audacious amphibious assault when Palestinian militants emerged from the sea north of Gaza.

In footage of the incident released by the Israeli military, two figures are seen walking out of the surf on an Israeli beach north of Gaza near Zikim. At least four militants are then seen running over sand dunes apparently carrying weapons before being targeted and "neutralised" by Israeli missiles.

The incident is being seen as evidence of the new capabilities of Islamic militants in Gaza, whose rockets in the past 24 hours have gone further than ever before – in one case landing in the city of Hadera, more than 60 miles (100km) from Gaza.

Peter Lerner, spokesman for the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), said too much was being made of the assault.

"People are calling them commandos but I think that gives them far too much credit. Even the way they are holding their rifles and shooting; any commando will tell you that that is not very professional," he said.

He said the IDF picked up the divers coming ashore at around 7pm and the incident was over within half an hour.

Boaz Ganor, director of the institute for counter-terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, said Hamas was imitating the techniques adopted by Hezbollah in Israel's 2006 war with Lebanon.

"Nothing about (Hamas's) policy is surprising. It was always clear that Hamas would try to accompany its rocket attacks with other techniques. It could be and should be dealt with by Israel – and it was, the attack was a failure," he said.

Like Lerner, Ganor was not impressed by the capabilities of the frogmen.

"It is not that complicated. A few trained divers can swim two or three kilometres with an underwater engine. I would not overestimate their capabilities," he said.

"The only thing (about this latest assault) that has surprised me is the rocket that was fired 120km from Gaza."

Hugh Lovatt, a project officer at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said there had been a number of reports in recent years of Hamas trying to infiltrate Israel using naval commandos – most recently in 2010, which was thwarted while the soldiers were still at sea and preparing to dive.

He said prior to Hamas's takeover of the Gaza Strip, there were attempts by other Palestinian groups to infiltrate Israeli territory using landing craft – the most well-known being by PFLP militants coming from Lebanon and landing in Nahariya in 1979 and attempting to take civilian hostages.

In 1987, two Palestinians infiltrated northern Israel using gliders.

"Since these kind off attacks require specialised skills, they have been rather limited in numbers and like any special forces it is expensive and time-consuming to replace casualties," said Lovatt.

"Nevertheless, commando raids – whether via the sea or through tunnels – are an important military capability for Hamas, allowing it either to take hostages (as with Gilad Shalit) or exact revenge killings for the deaths of their cadres."

Rockets from Gaza were shot down by Israel's Iron Dome on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning over Tel Aviv, while the authorities in the city sent out information to all residents on their nearest bomb shelters.

More on this story

More on this story

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  • Buildings blaze as Gaza comes under fire by Israel for third day – video

  • Gaza families flee Israeli bombardment - video

  • Palestinians say death toll over 70 as Israel pounds Gaza with air raids

  • Hollande urges Middle East diplomacy after pro-Palestinian protest in Paris

  • Netanyahu instructs Israeli military to intensify assault on Gaza

  • Binyamin Netanyahu accuses Hamas of trying to kill as many Israelis as possible – video

  • Iron Dome: Israel's 'game-changing' missile shield

  • Israeli commandos raid Gaza beach as deadly air assault continues

  • Israel pounds Gaza with air and naval strikes in move against Hamas

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