By YAAKOV KATZ
IDF troops discovered 11 Kassam launchers aimed at Israel in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
Golani Brigade infantry and Engineering Corps soldiers found the rocket launchers during a ground operation close to the border fence.
Earlier in the day, three paratroopers were wounded, including one moderately, when a bomb exploded next to their jeep in Nablus. They were treated on the scene before being evacuated to the Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva. An exchange of gunfire ensued between the soldiers and several Palestinian gunmen. The army jeep sustained heavy damage in the explosion.
During the operation, the troops discovered an explosives laboratory in the Balata refugee camp on the eastern edge of Nablus. Soldiers went house-to-house and succeeded in locating the laboratory before coming under attack.
Inside the lab, troops discovered ready-to-use explosives, chemicals and a bag containing pieces of scrap metal that could be used as bomb shrapnel. The laboratory's contents were destroyed in a controlled explosion.
Two Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist suspects were arrested during the operation. Troops also raided six Hamas charities and confiscated computers and documents.