IDF: Troops nab 2 Palestinians trying to infiltrate from Gaza with hand grenades
Gazan suspects detained in buffer zone while unarmed, having apparently discarded weapons found nearby
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Two Palestinians were detained by Israel Defense Force soldiers while attempting to infiltrate into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip on Friday morning, the military said.
The IDF said the suspects were unarmed when they were detained, but troops later found two fragmentation hand grenades nearby that the pair had brought into the area.
The military said soldiers monitoring surveillance cameras spotted the pair entering the IDF’s buffer zone in the southern part of the Gaza border, and attempting to cross the security barrier.
Troops dispatched to the scene arrested the pair and handed them over to the Shin Bet security agency for further questioning.
“After scanning the area of the incident, two fragmentation grenades brought by the suspects were found,” the IDF said.
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip frequently attempt to illegally enter Israeli territory, often with hopes of fleeing the beleaguered enclave. Often they are caught before managing to cross Israel’s high-tech series of fences and walls guarding the frontier with Gaza, both above and below ground.
Earlier this week, hundreds of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip rioted along the Israeli border.
A spokesperson for the IDF told The Times of Israel on Monday that the rioters hurled a number of explosive devices, and several attempted to break through the security barrier.
IDF forces detained a number of Palestinians in the area and handed them over to the Shin Bet for questioning, the spokesperson added.
The Hamas-run health ministry in the Gaza Strip said 18 people were wounded by Israeli fire during the rioting.
