'IDF fires on suspicious vehicle near Gaza border'

Palestinians say seven people wounded, two of whom are in serious condition; IDF denies engagement with Palestinians.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
IDF tank in central Gaza Strip_370 (photo credit: Amir Cohen/Reuters)
IDF tank in central Gaza Strip_370
(photo credit: Amir Cohen/Reuters)
An IDF patrol unit that regularly makes incursions just a few meters into the Gaza Strip encountered a group of suspicious Palestinians at the border on Wednesday, with Palestinian sources claiming IDF artillery wounded seven people.
The IDF believes the Palestinians were trying to lay roadside explosives.
Shortly after 9:00 a.m., Palestinian sources in Gaza reported live fire from an IDF unit that had made an incursion into the Gaza Strip, resulting in a number of casualties.
By 11:00 a.m., Palestinian Ma'an News Agency reported that seven people were wounded, two of them in serious condition, when an IDF patrol fired shots on an agricultural community near Beit Lahia, east of Gaza City. At least three elderly people were among the wounded, according to Ma'an.
The IDF, meanwhile, declined to comment on the Palestinian casualties, but said that a group of Palestinians riding in a private vehicle approached a patrol unit near the defunct Karni crossing, which lies east of Gaza City. Despite orders from IDF soldiers for the car, which was speeding towards the border, to slow, the driver continued at pace.
Sources in the IDF told Israel Radio that soldiers fired a number of shots in the air.
According to Army Radio, the IDF identified two terrorists among the group of Palestinians, who approached the border twice in what the IDF believes was an attempt to lay roadside bombs.
The IDF denied an exchange of fire with Palestinians at the border, according to Army Radio.