The Israel Defense Forces on Monday eliminated two Gazan terrorists who crossed truce lines and approached IDF soldiers in the northern Strip, in the latest of a string of ceasefire violations by Hamas.
“Several terrorists were identified crossing the Yellow Line and approaching IDF troops in the northern Gaza Strip, posing an immediate threat to them,” according to the IDF.
The Yellow Line marks Gaza territory still under Israeli control following last month’s U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Jerusalem and Hamas.
In a second incident in the northern Strip, several additional terrorists were identified “crossing the Yellow Line and approaching IDF troops, posing an immediate threat to them,” the statement continued.
Israeli forces opened fire, eliminating a total of two Palestinian terrorists, “in order to remove the threat” facing them, according to the military.
Soldiers “remain deployed in accordance with the ceasefire agreement and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat,” it stated.
Earlier Monday, the Israeli Air Force struck three terrorists who crossed the Yellow Line and approached IDF soldiers in the southern Gaza Strip.
According to the army, the terrorists were struck by the IAF in two separate incidents in Khan Yunis. “Hits were identified,” it stated.
Troops of the IDF’s Nahal and Golani brigades have been operating in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah in recent weeks as part of an effort to “dismantle the remaining terror tunnels in the area and eliminate the terrorists hiding within them,” the military said separately Monday.
The soldiers, working with the Yahalom combat engineering unit, over the past month have encircled terrorists holed up underground while dismantling above-ground terrorist infrastructure, it stated.
Over the past week alone, hundreds of meters of tunnel routes used by Hamas were destroyed, and more than 60 terror targets were struck, including some 15 tunnel shafts, according to the statement.
IDF soldiers were also said to have confiscated weapons and additional military gear, as well as a Hamas flag, during raids along the Yellow Line.
The statement noted that over the weekend, IDF forces killed 11 Hamas terrorists who attempted to flee the besieged tunnels in the Rafah area of southern Gaza and arrested six others after a 24-hour manhunt.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office stated on Saturday: “Hamas violated the ceasefire again, sending a terrorist into Israel-held territory to attack IDF soldiers. Israel has fully honored the ceasefire, Hamas has not.”
Since the truce went into effect on Oct. 10, “dozens of Hamas terrorists have crossed the Israeli lines to attack our troops, while they execute Palestinian civilians in Gaza,” the PMO said, calling on mediators to pressure Hamas to fulfill its commitments under the agreement.
“Hamas must immediately return the three deceased hostages it is still holding and complete its disarmament and enable the total demilitarization of Gaza,” the PMO statement stressed.
