IDF soldier wounded in southern Gaza op

3 gunmen reported dead in IAF strike; troops kill 2 terrorists planting bomb; 2 Kassams hit w. Negev.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, AP
idf gaza 248.88 (photo credit: AP [file])
idf gaza 248.88
(photo credit: AP [file])
An IDF soldier was moderately wounded in a counter-terror operation in southern Gaza that started Thursday night and continued into Friday morning. The soldier was hurt Thursday when a military bulldozer was hit by an anti-tank missile, which Hamas's armed wing, Izzadin Kassam, claimed responsibility for firing. The casualty was evacuated by helicopter to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba. Three terrorists were killed in an IAF strike during the operation, Palestinian medical officials said Friday. Witnesses said the men were on motorcycles close to the Rafah border crossing. The IDF said aircraft struck terrorists carrying anti-tank missiles, adding that armed Palestinians were lobbing mortars and rockets at soldiers during the operation. In addition, Givati Brigade troops killed two Palestinian terrorists who were attempting to plant a bomb next to the Gaza border fence, in the Kissufim area, the army said. A joint force of Givati Brigade, Armored Corps and Engineering Corps troops participated in the southern Gaza operation against terror infrastructure. During the early stages of the operation, troops discovered a grenade launcher in a schoolyard in the Seja'iyeh neighborhood of Gaza City. Meanwhile, in northern Gaza, IDF troops fired at two gunmen who had approached the perimeter fence. The army said that one of the armed men was hit. On Friday afternoon, two Kassam rocket hits damaged several greenhouses and set a wheat field alight in the Sha'ar Hanegev region. No one was wounded. Friday's violence comes a day after a potentially disastrous terror attack at the Erez crossing into Gaza was averted when a Palestinian suicide bomber driving a truck loaded with four tons of explosives tried to ram his way into Israel, killing himself but causing no other casualties. Yaakov Katz contributed to this report