Gazans set off border bomb in failed attack on IDF

Over 100 rockets fired from Gaza at Israel this year, compared to 9 rockets in 2013, new figures released by IDF show.

IDF on Gaza border, March 13, 2014. (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
IDF on Gaza border, March 13, 2014.
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Palestinian terrorists detonated an explosive device in a failed attempt to attack soldiers carrying out routine security work along the northern border with Gaza on Thursday evening.
The army fired back at the source of the blast, an IDF spokesperson said. There were no injuries reported in the incident.
Earlier, the IDF uncovered two bombs planted on the border in southern Gaza.
On Thursday morning, terrorists fired a mortar shell at an IDF unit along the strip’s southern border.
There were no injuries in the attack either, an IDF spokeswoman said.
Meanwhile, figures for rocket attacks for 2014 confirm what residents of the South have been feeling for months, that a major upsurge in projectile attacks has occurred this year.
More than 100 rockets, most of them fired by Islamic Jihad in heavy salvos in March, were launched at Israel since the start of this year. In 2013, during the same period, from January to April 24, nine rocket attacks were reported.
On Wednesday, the Israel Air Force targeted one or more terrorists in northern Gaza involved in firing rockets, but the strike missed the target.
Palestinian media later said four civilians had been hurt in the attack.
The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) had identified the target, which constituted an “imminent threat to Israeli security,” sources told The Jerusalem Post after the air strike.
Soon afterward, Palestinian rocket-launching squads fired at least two rockets at the South. The projectiles triggered the Color Red alert and fell in open areas. One exploded in Sha’ar Hanegev and the second on the Ashkelon coast. The rockets didn’t cause injuries or damages.