Israel’s army foiled a large-scale infiltration attempt along the Gaza border, during which 13 armed Palestinians emerged from a tunnel on the Israeli side of the border at dawn Thursday, an IDF spokesperson said.
The foiled attack could have had deadly and devastating consequences if carried out. No injuries were reported to IDF soldiers.
The gunmen, the spokesperson said, emerged from the tunnel some 250 meters inside Israel. Lying flat on the ground, in an open area two kilometers from Kibbutz Sufa in the Eshkol region, the 13 armed men were spotted by what Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, IDF spokesman, termed “different sensors.”
The spokesperson described the attack as in line with a series of other thwarted attacks over the past 10 days of warfare, including two infiltration attempts from the sea near Kibbutz Zikim, a tunnel near Kerem Shalom, and a drone attack earlier this week.
The IDF action that stopped the infiltration attempt before it was sprung “was obviously a huge success,” he said.
Realizing that they had been discovered, the terrorists attempted to run back underground but were struck by Israeli aircraft. Lerner said some had been hit but he could not state how many.
In June 2006, two Israeli soldiers were killed in an ambush that began via a tunnel in the same region, and a third, Gilad Shalit, was captured and taken back to Gaza.
In the years since that assault several complex tunnels have been discovered, including, most recently, one that was found and bombed on the eve of ‘Operation Protective Edge.’
‘’We knew this would come. We knew specifically about this tunnel. We knew Hamas would try [to launch a terror attack] in any way it can,” another IDF Spokesman, Brig. Gen. Moti Almoz told Channel 2 television.
“This attack was meant to be a killing spree in one of the villages nearby,” Almoz said.
‘’The volley of rockets that hit central Israel in the last hour, just ahead of a humanitarian ceasefire beginning at 10 a.m., “was meant as an envelope for this attack,” he adds.
At 10:00 (9:00 Brussels) on Thursday morning a five-hour humanitarian ceasefire went into effect.
As a result of open dialogue between the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) and representatives of the United Nations, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will facilitate during this ceasefire a humanitarian window, cease operational activity within the Gaza Strip and hold its fire.
This humanitarian window is meant to allow the civilian population of the Gaza Strip to engage in resupply for their humanitarian needs.
‘’Should the humanitarian window be exploited by Hamas or other terror organizations for the purpose of launching attacks against Israeli civilian or military targets the IDF will respond firmly and decisively,’’ the IDF said.