IDF troops come under fire near Gaza, respond with tank fire
Israeli tank targets Hamas position in the enclave after soldiers are attacked while operating near security fence
Judah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel's religions and Diaspora affairs correspondent.
An IDF tank destroyed a Hamas position in the central Gaza Strip, after shots were fired at Israeli troops operating near the security fence on Thursday morning, the army said.
No one was injured, and no damage was caused by the gunshots at the Israeli soldiers, according to the military.
No terrorist group immediately took credit for the attack. But the IDF targeted a Hamas post, in accordance with Israeli policy that sees the terrorist group, which rules the Strip, as ultimately responsible for any attack from the coastal enclave.
The troops were “carrying out routine activities near the border” when they came under fire, the army said.
They were on the Israeli side of the fence at the time of the attack, an IDF spokesperson said.
A short while after the gunshots were fired, the Israeli tank targeted the Hamas site in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, according to the terrorist group.
Tensions have been running high on the Gaza front, as Israeli officials say a growing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip threatens to spark renewed conflict between the coastal enclave’s terrorist rulers and the IDF.
The Strip has been operating almost entirely without electricity, due to an ongoing row between the Mahmoud Abbas-led Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank, and Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, over payments for the fuel used to run Gaza’s power station.
Dov Lieber contributed to this report.
