Israel Defense Forces tanks struck a Hamas post in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, after terrorists detonated an explosive device close to troops operating along the border.
The attack occurred while troops were conducting routine maintenance work on the border fence.
The IDF said that no soldiers were injured in the blast and that an investigation into the incident had been launched.
The military ordered Israeli farmers working in the vicinity to temporarily vacate the area.
Overnight Tuesday, Palestinian terrorists fired a rocket from Gaza towards Israel, which triggered sirens in the southern Israeli community of Nir Am.
The rocket misfired and landed inside the Palestinian enclave, according to the military.
The launch came hours after Israeli forces eliminated in Jenin the Palestinian terrorist who murdered brothers Hallel Menachem and Yagel Yaakov Yaniv near the Arab village of Huwara on Feb. 26.
According to the military, soldiers had come under fire from within the house the terrorist was in, after surrounding it.
Palestinian officials identified the fatality as Abdel Fattah Hussein Kharousha, 49.
The IDF said that in concurrent operations in Nablus, troops arrested two of Kharousha’s sons, who are suspected of involvement in the Huwara attack.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the soldiers who “eliminated the abhorrent terrorist who murdered the two wonderful brothers, Hallel and Yigal Yaniv, in cold blood.”
He continued, saying “our brave soldiers acted with surgical precision in the heart of the murderers’ lair. I commend them and send my best wishes for a swift recovery to our wounded. As I have said repeatedly: Whoever harms us will pay the price.”
U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price similarly backed the IDF operation, saying that Israel “has the legitimate right to defend its people and its territory against all forms of aggression, including, of course, those from terrorist groups.”
