IDF claims men were terrorists attempting to cross the border fence.
By AP, JPOST STAFFIDF shells 298(photo credit: AP)
Palestinian sources said Thursday that the three men killed the previous night by IDF troops on the border fence between Gaza and Israel were members of the Palestinian police force.
A fourth man died of his wounds overnight.
In contrast, the IDF claimed that the three were terrorists who were attempting to cross the border fence and infiltrate into Israeli territory.
According to Palestinian security officials the group was hiding next to a police post that was hit by Israeli tank shell. Reportedly, tank and gunfire continued in the area, wounded five people, including a child.
The army that three suspicious figures approached the border fence near Kibbutz Nahal Oz, and soldiers opened fire, hitting them.
Army Radio reported that the three were apparently trying to reach a bomb planted along the fence.
An IDF spokesman that if the three Palestinians killed were in fact members of the police, the army regretted the incident.
The IDF issued a statement late Wednesday saying that the army held the Palestinian Authority "fully responsible for all incidents in the Gaza Strip." The statement also said that the PA has not done a thing to prevent terror attacks on Israel.
Overnight Wednesday, IAF aircraft targeted access routes to Kassam launch sites in the northern Gaza Strip.
