Hamas militant armed with a gun and grenade attempted to infiltrate Israel; IDF soldiers shot and killed terrorist; Intelligence officials report Hamas and Iran agree to use Gaza as a second front if war breaks out in north; IDF completes large scale exercise; Kochavi: We will continue preparing on the assumption that a conflict could erupt any day.
Three Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers were wounded after a Hamas militant in the Gaza Strip attempted to breach the security border with Israel on Thursday.
The militant was armed with a grenade and a gun and was stopped by the IDF soldiers, resulting in the exchange of fire. The soldiers shot and killed the terrorist. The IDF Spokespersons Unit confirmed, “an IDF officer and two soldiers were wounded after a terrorist from Gaza breached the security fence into Israel and opened fire at them. The troops responded by shooting and killing the terrorist.” It confirmed it also “targeted a Hamas military post in Gaza.”
The incident follows reports Thursday that Hamas and Iran have agreed to use the south of Gaza as a second front in the event war breaks out in Israel’s north. Reports cited Israeli intelligence officials and follows a direct address, in Arabic, by the IDF’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj. Gen. Kamil Abu Rokon, to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Warning of Iran’s interests, he told the Palestinians “Hamas is Iran’s front line of defense… That’s just the beginning, and only you can choose the ending.”
The IDF recently completed a large-scale exercise to improve capabilities amidst heightened threats from both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Strip. Confirming the exercise, the IDF stated, “We just completed a large-scale exercise to improve our readiness for combating any threat posed by Hamas & Islamic Jihad in Gaza.” IDF Chief of General Staff Aviv Kochavi was quoted stating on the success of the exercise, “There has been a most significant upgrade here. I get the impression that there is very high readiness for a possible campaign in Gaza. We will continue preparing on the assumption that a conflict could erupt any day.”
