IDF targets Gaza terror cell behind recent sniper attacks

Operation "to eradicate the immediate threat" concludes without injury or damage to Israeli side.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Updated: OCTOBER 20, 2015 19:19
An IDF soldier rides an armored personnel carrier toward a staging area near the Gaza border (photo credit: REUTERS)
An IDF soldier rides an armored personnel carrier toward a staging area near the Gaza border
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The IDF identified a terrorist cell in Gaza which it said has been behind a series of sniping attacks on security forces recently, and opened fire on it.
According to the army, in a combined operation of the IDF,  Border Police Counter-Terrorism Unit and Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency, security forces carried out sniper fire on the southern Gaza cell, which had been operating close to the Gaza border fence over the past week.
The cell was "preparing additional sniper attacks," the army said. The cell was accurately struck.
The IDF said the operation "to eradicate the immediate threat" concluded without injury or damage to the Israeli side.
"The IDF will not tolerate attempts to harm Israeli citizens and soldiers and will continue to operation against every attempted terror attack on the State of Israel," the military said in a statement.
The army declined to provide details on which organization the cell belonged to.
In light of the potential threat of attacks from the cell, the IDF advised Israeli farmers near the enclave's border to stay clear of the vicinity.
According to farmers, a notice was sent to abstain from work in their fields due to fears of a large-scale terror attack from Gaza such as a strike using anti-tank missiles.
The IDF move came mere hours after a visit at a lookout point into Gaza near the IDF's Gaza Division headquarters in the western Negev by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, and top IDF officials.
Jpost.com staff and Noam Amir contributed to this report.