Israel belies Al-Aqsa Brigades on officer

JERUSALEM (AA) – The Israeli army on Thursday refuted claims by a Palestinian resistance movement about one of its officers, saying it had not lost the officer the movement referred to in a video it posted earlier. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an umbrella of the West Bank-Based Palestine Liberation Organization, earlier on Thursday showed the ID of an Israeli officer in a video and challenged the Israeli army to speak about his fate. The brigades did not, however, mention whether it had captured the officer or killed him. It only said that some of its fighters had clashed with an Israeli force in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun. Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee said that the brigades claims to have made an achievement in relation to the officer.
"The fact is that this is an imaginary achievement, one that has nothing to do with reality," Adraee said.
He said such videos come only to cover up what he described as the "state of confusion" among Palestinian resistance factions. Israel's more than a month of attacks on the Gaza Strip had left around 1961 Palestinians dead and more than 10,000 others injured.
Around 64 Israeli troops were also killed in Gaza combat and three Israeli civilians were killed by rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli data.
By Abdel-Raouf Arnaout