Police closed a number of major roads in southern Israel on Thursday afternoon due to a suspected security incident in the area. They had told southern Israel residents to stay in their houses.On Thursday evening, Police took down the security alert, re-opening roadways and telling residents that it is safe to leave their homes.Eastbound Highway 25 lanes around Beersheba were closed, Highway 241 from the entrance of Ofakim northwards was closed, and highway 40 in the Dimona area was closed from the Mashabim junction eastwards. The road closures came amid heavy projectile fire on the communities surrounding the Gaza Strip following the end of a five-hour UN humanitarian cease-fire. Palestinian media reported that the IDF had also resumed striking targets in the Gaza Strip.Earlier on Thursday, IDF forces foiled an attempt by Hamas terrorists to infiltrate a kibbutz near the Gaza frontier through an underground tunnel before dawn.Soldiers manning the border area identified 13 terrorists who crossed into Israeli territory near Kibbutz Sufa through a tunnel that was dug in the southern Gaza Strip.
The army said that the troops "neutralized the threat." There was no exact number of casualties in the gunfire, though it was confirmed that no Israeli troops suffered injuries.
The army said it held Hamas responsible for the attempted attack.
