Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon on Thursday evening instructed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to start a ground action to strike at terrorist tunnels used by Hamas from the Gaza Strip to infiltrate into Israel.
Hamas terrorists used such a tunnel Thursday morning to infiltrate into Israel in order to perpetrate a large-scale attack against Israeli citizens. The terrorist action was successfully foiled by the IDF.
The gunmen, an IDF 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 men armed with RPGs 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.
Shortly after the launch of the ground operation, the Israeli army neutralized 14 terrorists, destroyed 20 rocket launchers, carried out 9 strikes on tunnels and hit a total of 103 terror targets. Furthermore, since last night, about 50 rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel. Of them, 25 hit Israel and 20 were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system.
The IDF said one soldier was killed in action during the ground operation. His family has been notified.
The IDF has been also instructed to be prepared for an expansion of the ground action. 18,000 additonal reservists have been called up.
The ground action was approved by Israel’s 9-member Security Cabinet after Israel agreed to a ceasefire proposal initiated by Egypt whereas Hamas rejected it and continued firing rockets at Israeli cities.
Moreover, Hamas did not honor the 5-hour humanitarian ceasefire initiated by the UN and continued firing at Israeli cities during the lull.
‘’In light of Hamas' criminal and relentless aggression, as well as the dangerous attempt to infiltrate Israeli territory, Israel must act to defend its citizens’’, the cabinet said.
Israel said ’‘Operation Protective Edge’’ ‘’will continue until it reaches its goal – restoring quiet to Israel's citizens for a prolonged period, while inflicting a significant blow to the infrastructures of Hamas and the other terrorist organizations.’’