Gaza: At least four gunmen killed by IDF

Shipment of armored vehicles to PA delayed; four soldiers wounded in mortar attack Sunday evening.

By YAAKOV KATZ, JPOST.COM STAFF, ETGAR LEFKOVITS
IDF troops targeted a number of gunmen along the Gaza perimeter during operations Sunday night and killed at least four of them, the army announced. According to the IDF, in one instance an armored unit spotted a mortar launching team near the perimeter fence in the northern Gaza Strip. The soldiers confirmed the gunmen were hit. Hamas and hospital officials said one terrorist was killed and six were wounded. During another incident, while "operating against terror infrastructure in the northern Gaza Strip" soldiers recognized a group of three gunmen and opened fire on them, the army said. The three were killed. There were no IDF reports of casualties. Meanwhile, security forces arrested 42 Palestinians who were wanted for questioning in the West Bank over night Sunday, the army announced. Army Radio reported that a shipment of armored vehicles to the PA security apparatus in Nablus would not be carried out this week due to the IDF's opposition to having machine guns installed on top of the vehicles. Earlier, four IDF soldiers were lightly wounded by shrapnel from a mortar shell that was fired from the Gaza Strip and landed in a military base in the western Negev on Sunday. Three other mortars fired in the same attack landed in nearby open fields and caused no casualties. Three of the troops were evacuated to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba and the fourth was taken to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon to receive medical treatment, Israel Radio reported. Fifteen mortar shells that were fired from the Gaza Strip earlier in the evening landed in open fields. No casualties or damage were reported from the barrage. Also on Sunday, a Palestinian gunman opened fire on Israeli troops at a security checkpoint on the outskirts of Jerusalem, lightly wounding a Palestinian bystander, police said. The assailant walked up to the Kalandiya checkpoint just north of Jerusalem, pulled out a gun and began shooting, Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said. After firing two shots his pistol jammed and he was quickly overcome by security personnel at the site. A 16-year-old Palestinian boy who was at the checkpoint was lightly wounded by shrapnel in the late-afternoon attack. He was treated on the scene by Israeli medics from Magen David Adom, and then evacuated to a Jerusalem hospital for treatment.