IDF troops kill armed Palestinian along Gaza fence
Third incident in 10 days along the tense border fence.
By ANNA AHRONHEIMSmoke rises after an explosion as Palestinians take part in a night protest held along the Gaza side of the border with Israel(photo credit: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN)
Israeli troops shot and killed Marwan Nasser, 26, after he opened fire on them while trying to infiltrate into southern Israel, the military said Sunday morning. The Palestinian terrorist was wearing a green bandanna associated with Hamas’s military wing, the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades.“IDF observers spotted an armed terrorist approaching the security fence in the northern Gaza Strip,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement. “The terrorist opened fire towards IDF troops. The troops, who were prepared for the event because of the observers, engaged the terrorist.”An Israeli tank fired at a post belonging to Hamas in response to the attempted infiltration.No Israelis were hurt in the incident, and surrounding communities were not placed under increased security.The incident came 24 hours after IDF troops shot dead four heavily armed Palestinians who attempted to infiltrate with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), AK-47 assault rifles and grenades.The four terrorists were identified as Abdullah Ismail, 21; Al-Hamaida Abdullah Ashraf al-Ghomri, 19; Ahmad Ayman al-Adeini, 20; and Abdallah al-Masri, 21, all of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.While the military hasn’t yet determined which group is behind the foiled attack, “Hamas is responsible for everything that happens in the Strip,” IDF spokesman Ronen Manelis said. “There are incidents in which we can say there is a difference. [In some, there is] one person who plans an attack alone, like last week, and there are others like this one, which we see was a planned group attack.”On August 1, an IDF officer and two soldiers were injured and a Hamas terrorist was killed in an exchange of fire at the border near Kissufim in southern Israel.Identified as Hani Abu Salah, a member of Hamas’s border patrol, he was the brother of Fadi Abu Salah, a disabled Palestinian man who was killed by IDF fire during one of the weekly “Great March of Return” protests along the border in May 2018. He had been wearing a uniform and was armed with grenades and a Kalashnikov rifle when he infiltrated into Israeli territory from the southern edge of the Hamas-run coastal enclave.While Hamas did not release any official statement claiming responsibility for any of the recent clashes, the group’s spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said that “A continuation of the blockade on the Gaza Strip will bring about an explosion in the region, and therefore we must remove the blockade and end the suffering of Gaza residents.”
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi toured the border area on Sunday morning and visited the troops who foiled Saturday’s attack.“Your job is to defend the state’s borders and its citizens, and that is what you did here – very successfully – due to a quick assessment, precise use of weapons, a correct solution, fighting spirit and determination,” he said.
