Two Palestinians killed trying to infiltrate Gaza security fence

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Two Palestinians were killed by IDF gunfire in separate incidents on Friday. One attempted to place a bomb near the security fence at the Kissufim crossing in southern Gaza, and another attempted to cross the fence and enter Israel in the same area. The two were later identified as Suliman Hameida and Muhammad Ahmed. Palestinian media reports claimed the two were searching for work in Israel. However, the army said that in one instance, soldiers spotted the suspect carrying an object in his hand and crawling towards the fence near the crossing. They opened fire and saw that they had hit him, but only at daybreak did they discover his body and a bomb lying next to it. An hour and a half later, a group of four Palestinians were seen attempting to cross the fence in the same area where the previous incident occurred. Soldiers opened fire and hit one person. Two others fled, and a fourth Palestinian was captured by soldiers as he climbed over the fence into Israel. In another incident, Abdul Moeti Muhammad Dief, a Hamas bomb maker, was killed in an apparent work accident when the bomb he was handling blew up prematurely, killing him immediately and wounding two others in the Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza, late Friday night. Meanwhile, increased IDF activity failed to prevent four Kassam rockets from being fired at the western Negev over the weekend. On Friday, two landed in open areas and a third fell in a PA-controlled area. The army was unable to locate where the fourth rocket fell on Saturday. No one was wounded and no damage was reported. In response, the air force fired missiles at a car traveling near Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza. The army believed the car contained terrorists on their way to launch Kassam rockets. The two passengers in the car came away unscathed from the attack, which blew up the car and the rockets that were being transported. Over the weekend, IDF artillery units intensified the shelling of uninhabited areas in northern Gaza. From midnight Friday until dawn Saturday, the air force bombed eight access routes in the hopes of hampering the movement of Kassam rocket crews. In the West Bank, security forces arrested five fugitives in operations in villages near Ramallah and Hebron. On Saturday, security forces arrested a Palestinian after two pipe bombs were thrown at the district coordinating office outside of Jenin. No one was wounded in the attack. At an IDF checkpoint southwest of Nablus, soldiers arrested a Palestinian caught carrying a knife. On Friday night, security forces arrested three Palestinians caught throwing firebombs at Israeli cars near El Khader west of Bethlehem. According to the IDF, 23 Palestinians have been arrested in the Bethlehem area for throwing firebombs since the beginning of the year. At the Kalandiya checkpoint south of Ramallah, security forces arrested four Palestinians after they were found carrying firebombs and knives when stopped for inspection.