Two Palestinians were killed at predawn on Saturday as a special Israeli undercover unit stormed the eastern part of the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun, medics and eyewitnesses reported.

The witnesses said that the Israeli army force, backed by an attacking helicopter stormed a house in the area said to be a home of an militant of the governing Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) .

They added that a gun battle erupted near the house between Palestinian militants and Israeli soldiers, during which a father and his son were killed and two women into the house were seriously injured.

Palestinian paramedics confirmed that a father Ismail Abu Oudeh, 56, was killed and his son Mohamed Ismail Abu Oudeh, 26, adding that their ambulances were not able to reach the area to evacuate casualties from the area.

Palestinian security sources said that several tanks and armored vehicles rolled into the scene to back the special Israeli force exchanging fire with the militants.

There was no word on Israeli casualties in the area.

Local residents said that during the exchange of fire between the militants and the special Israeli army force, the helicopter also fired one missile at another house in the area, wounding at least four people.

Several houses are besieged by the Israeli army force, where women and children were taken by the soldiers as human shields during the exchange of fire, they added.

Source: Xinhua