Soldier’s reaction said to prevent kidnapping

More details emerge about the attack on an IDF guard tower within Israel that left five soldiers dead.

According to an initial investigation by the IDF, four to seven gunmen emerged from a tunnel 150 meters inside Israel early Tuesday morning, Walla reports. The existence of the tunnel was known to Israeli forces.

The assailants managed to reach a pillbox guard tower next to Kibbutz Nahal Oz, and fired an anti-tank missile at the small barracks attached to the pillbox. Five soldiers were killed in that attack.

The terrorists then charged at the position in an attempt to kidnap a soldier and bring him to the Gaza Strip, but a soldier in the top portion of the tower opened fire, hitting one of the attackers. Two other soldiers failed to fire their weapons.

The other Hamas gunmen dropped their weapons and slipped back into Gaza.

Soldiers searching the area found a rifle and missiles left behind by the Palestinians.

The IDF said that the soldier’s action prevented an infiltration into the kibbutz.

Hamas took responsibility for the attack, saying “conditions in the field did not allow” them to finish the mission.