IDF tanks shell Hamas posts following arson of IDF equipment
A day after three Palestinians managed to infiltrate Israel from Gaza, two Palestinians detected trying to set fire to a platform of IDF engineering equipment near the Old Karni crossing, just 50 meters west of the Gaza security barrier; IDF tanks fire at two Hamas observation posts in retaliation.
The suspects did not cross the fence into Israel.
The IDF stated following the incident that they regard any attempt to sabotage and damage the security fence and security infrastructure with great severity.
On Tuesday, two Palestinians approached the southern part of the Gaza border, placing at least one flag on the border fence. The IDF is checking whether the flag contained an explosive device.
Those two Palestinians were arrested Tuesday night by Hamas' border seizure force, which thought they were planning to infiltrate Israel.
Wednesday's incident took place just one day after three Palestinians managed to infiltrate Israel from the Gaza Strip and proceed 20 kilometers from the border before being apprehended near the entrance to the Tze'elim army base.
The terrorists, who are all members of the same family from Rafah, were captured in possession of three grenades, a knife and two cutters. "We don’t know what their target was because they are still being interrogated," IDF Spokesperson Ronen Manelis said following the incident. "They didn’t pull out the weapons at any point.
"This incident shouldn't have happened," Manelis added. "It ended successfully without any injuries. It's unclear why they weren't caught immediately. The terrorists likely didn’t have a vehicle that picked them up, but the investigation isn't over yet."
IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot addressed the incident on Wednesday in a ceremony welcoming the new Military Intelligence Directorate head, Tamir Hayman."In light of what happened in the past week, we must look inside and draw lessons using a professional and modest approach, to reach the norms we are pursuing to defend the state."
On Saturday, four Palestinians entered Israel from the Gaza Strip near Kibbutz Kissufim and attempted to torch heavy engineering equipment used for the construction of the underground anti-tunnel barrier.
An IDF force approached them and the four fled back to the Gaza Strip. There were no casualties and only minor damage was caused to the heavy equipment.
Former Southern Command chief Major-General (res.) Yom Tov Samia addressed Tuesday's infiltration incident in an interview to the Ynet studio Wednesday. "These events are symptoms of a situation in which the terror organizations use civilians as a human shield when they go out to fight or when they know we're about to attack them, and that's the absurd situation created by Israel's inconsistent security policy."
Major-General (res.) Eitan Dangot, the former coordinator of the government's activities in the territories, told Ynet that the IDF must draw its conclusions ahead of Friday's planned march from Gaza. "We are headed towards a tense month. I believe in our ability to stop and contain, and it could carry a price. So each side will have to calculate the risks in what it is doing," he clarified.
Ashraf al-Ajrami, the former Palestinian minister of prisoners affairs, said: "This protest is a national Palestinian consensus in Gaza and serves as a meeting point for all organizations, including Fatah and Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the fronts and all the factions, from and outside of the PLO. They are all stressing the political issue which has reached a dead end recently, as well as the need for national Palestinian unity after the failure of the reconciliation move."
