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| By Israel Insider staff June 9, 2007 |
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Four Islamic Jihad gunmen infiltrated Israeli territory through an unmanned guard post near the Kissufim border crossing between Israel and the central Gaza Strip Saturday afternoon, attacking IDF troops stationed in the area. The terrorists were in a jeep marked 'TV', in an attempt to disguise their intentions.
They were spotted by IDF surveillance. A helicopter group quickly appeared on this scene, along with ground troops. One terrorist was killed in the ensuing gun fight, after an IDF dog located him in a drainage pipe. The terrorist shot the dog and then was killed by troops, according to Army Radio. No IDF soldiers nor Israeli civilians were wounded in the attack.
Three others gunmen managed to flee the scene. The IDF conducted searches on Israel's side of the border to ensure that no terrorists remained in the area.
Army officials believe that the gunmen intended to kidnap an Israeli soldier, and thus came so close to the army outpost. The terror cell was well-equipped and well-armed.
The operation was a joint action of the al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad - and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades - Fatah's military wing.
Abu Ahmed, a spokesman for Islamic Jihad, boasted on local radio stations that four of its members broke through the Gaza border fence and surprised soldiers at the crossing. "It is difficult to storm (the area). But when they entered in a surprise, they confused the enemy," he said.
Ahmed said that the four gunmen intended to kidnap a soldier but the attempt was foiled when Israeli helicopter gunships arrived on the scene. "The aim of the operation was to withdraw with the soldier in captivity," he said, ?but the participation of Israeli helicopters prevented that."
Near Rafah in southernmost Gaza, IDF infantry units from the Givati Brigade, with tanks and armored personnel carriers, entered this morning and were operating some two kilometers inside the southern Gaza Strip. One armed Palestinian was killed in a firefight with the troops near the security fence as they entered the Strip in the early morning hours. The purposed of the operation, according to the IDF, was to gather intelligence and uncover weapons caches.
Soldiers conducted house to house searches in the area, and arrested several Palestinians. All men under the age of 50 were ordered to gather in specified areas.
On Friday evening troops shot and killed an armed Palestinian near Hebron. Paratroopers operating in the village of Taffuh spotted a group of suspected terrorists conducting target practice. The soldiers opened fire, hitting two of the men. Yussuf Yussuf Abed A-Nabi Zarikat was seriously wounded and evacuated to a hospital. The second, Hajazi Muhammad Zarikat, died of his wounds.
Earlier Friday, an Islamic Jihad gunman died after he was critically wounded in a skirmish with IDF troops in the Gaza Strip. The gunman had opened fire on the soldiers along with a second man, who managed to escape, Israel Radio reported.
Palestinian terrorists believed to be part of Islamic Jihad fired two Kassam rockets at Sderot overnight Thursday. The rockets did not cause any damage or casualties, Israel Radio reported. |
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