No injuries as bomb detonates near army vehicle on Gaza border

IED explodes near engineering bulldozer along the fence between Israel and the northern Strip, IDF says

By Judah Ari Gross 8 April 2016, 9:59 am

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Judah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel's religions and Diaspora affairs correspondent.

File: A photo taken from the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip shows a Hamas outpost on a hill (right) along the border, February 25, 2016. (AFP/Jack Guez)

An improvised explosive device (IED) was detonated on the northern Gaza Strip border Friday morning, causing no damage or injuries, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The bomb exploded near an IDF engineering vehicle on the border, according to the army.

The border did not appear to have been breached, as the explosive device was placed on the Gazan side of the fence.

The IDF vehicle had been in the area doing a “planned operation,” the army said, without elaborating. From pictures of the scene, the vehicle appears to have been a D9 bulldozer.

In January, the Israeli Air Force targeted a group of Palestinians who were planting an IED on the border with Israel, also in the northern portion of the Gaza Strip.

Although in recent weeks the area has been calm, more attacks have emerged from the northern Gaza Strip than the southern portions of the coastal enclave.

Since the end of the 2014 Gaza war, sporadic rocket fire, violent demonstrations along the border and IEDs have often originated in areas adjacent to the Sha’ar Hanegev region.