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A home-made Qassam rocket launched from the Gaza Strip. (David Buimovitch/Jini)
Last update - 23:31 12/06/2008
IDF: We prevented major Gaza border terror attack
By Haaretz Service and Agencies
Tags: Gaza Strip, Mortar shells 

The Israel Defense Forces foiled a large scale terror attack planned to coincide with a barrage of some 50 Qassam rockets and mortar shells fired from Gaza into western Negev Thursday afternoon, the army said.

One Israeli woman moderately wounded when a rocket slammed directly into the infirmary in a moshav in the Ashkelon coastal region.

The IDF said that Gaza militants were planning to use the heavy barrage as a diversion in order to carry out a massive attack at the border fence between Israel and the Strip.
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A heavy vehicle approached IDF troops stationed at the Gaza border fence at an alarming speed, the IDF described the attempted attack. The soldiers opened fire and forced the vehicle to stop. The IDF said that it was the soldiers' quick response that likely prevented a serious attack.

The vehicle and the scene were both studied by IDF investigators in order to learn more details of the militants' plan.

Furthermore, the IDF added that the Israel Air Force bombed the Palestinian mortar squad that fired on kibbutz Nir Oz minutes earlier, and identified a direct hit.

The barrage of mortar shells came shortly after an explosion destroyed a Hamas bomb-maker's house in the Gaza Strip, killing at least seven people, including a baby, in what Hamas initially called an Israeli air strike.

Israel, which routinely accepts responsibility for attacks on military
targets, denied involvement and described the incident as a Palestinian work accident.

The explosion, which also wounded about 25 people, destroyed
the two-story dwelling and damaged several other homes in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya, an area from which militants frequently fire rockets into southern Israel.

Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida later announced the group had launched an investigation into the cause of the blast, indicating that the explosion was likely caused by an accident.

Hamas initially said that an Israel Air Force aircraft attacked the house belonging to Ahmed Hamouda, whom it described as one of its senior bomb-makers.

It was not clear whether Hamouda, was inside the house at the time of the explosion.

The Hamas-run Interior Ministry said a 4-month-old niece and teenage nephew of Hamouda were among the dead, along with an assistant to Interior Minister Said Siyam, a top Hamas figure in Gaza.

Over the years, dozens of Palestinian militants have been killed unintentionally while mishandling explosives meant to be used against Israel.

Earlier Thursday, Israel Defense Forces troops killed two Palestinian militants who were rigging explosive devices near the security fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip.

An IDF spokesman said the militants were also apparently trying to infiltrate Israeli terrirtory.

An IDF tank operating in the Nativ Ha'asara area north of the Gaza border
opened fire on one of the militants and forces from the Givati Brigade shot at the second militant.

The militants killed belonged to the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the groups said.

The violence came as members of the political-security cabinet decided to hold off on a much-touted invasion of Gaza in order to give Egyptian-brokered truce efforts more time to succeed.

Meanwhile, Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad headed to Cairo on Thursday in attempt to reignite the Egyptian-brokered truce talks.

IDF troops killed four Palestinians - one militant and three civilians - in three separate incidents in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

Also Wednesday, an Israeli man was lightly wounded by a mortar shell fired from the coastal territory.


Related articles:
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  • Official: Israel has no illusions on truce, expects Gaza flare-up
  • Israel: No Gaza raid, we'll give truce talks a chance
  • Palestinians: IDF kills 4 in Gaza; Negev man wounded by mortar
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      1.   Maybe Israel should stop bombing young children!! 15:32  |  POP 12/06/08
      2.   rocket barrage: congretulation Israel for be so 15:34  |  Jacob 12/06/08
      3.   Short of a brain 16:11  |  Shmuel 12/06/08
      4.   Hamas wants no truce 16:13  |  The Equalizer 12/06/08
      5.   #1 POP - You`re correct 16:24  |  Yonatan 12/06/08
      6.   AND THIS MERT WILL DO BY HIS FRUITLESS EFFORTS OF PIECE;AND THE.. 16:26  |  glenna 12/06/08
      7.   such a pitiful people 16:26  |  dovale 12/06/08
      8.   Good Thing for the Peace with Egypt ! 16:28  |  Mike 12/06/08
      9.   Listen. I told you guys last week that I am really angry. Well 16:38  |  Ehud Olmert 12/06/08
      10.   Israeli hurt as dozens of rockets, mortars pound Negev 16:47  |  Bruce 12/06/08
      11.   POP The Manchild 16:52  |  Honest Observation 12/06/08
      12.   POP #1.., Maybe? 16:53  |  Keith 12/06/08
      13.   Hamas should be crushed now. 17:03  |  Jean Van Daem 12/06/08
      14.   #1 pop what?Maybe Militants from Gaza should stop period 17:03  |  Robert/Montreal 12/06/08
      15.   "Last final warning" number few dozen from Barak didn`t help 17:06  |  Absolute Sweden 12/06/08
      16.   What is really frightening about the current world situation is 17:08  |  common sense 12/06/08
      17.   Quick sign a truce! 17:13  |  Proud Israeli 12/06/08
      18.   What Is Israel Waiting For ????????? 17:27  |  Eli 12/06/08
      19.   7 dovale. You are wrong about those "pitiful people..." 17:30  |  bat yam 12/06/08
      20.   #1 Hamas says it was probably a work accident 17:43  |  Paul Freedman 12/06/08
      21.   One good thing about Qassams 17:46  |  Greg 12/06/08
      22.   #11 Honest Observation - That`s what I`ve been saying 17:47  |  Yonatan 12/06/08
      23.   #17 I understand your Pessimism Proud Israeli 17:48  |  Robert/Montreal 12/06/08
      24.   #1 PooP Whats preventing mortars and ... 17:51  |  Al 12/06/08
      25.   Costs of military action need not be high, if 17:53  |  Pssd off American. 12/06/08
      26.   Hamas militants (Sic) 17:58  |  Nora 12/06/08
      27.   Just As Long as Olmert`s Creepy Family is Safe 18:02  |  Tod Zuckerman 12/06/08
      28.   Olmert still singing Give peace a chance 18:02  |  Boaz 12/06/08
      29.   Not with Olmert as PM 18:05  |  Dror 12/06/08
      30.   #25 P`eed of American,time for Netanyahu! Time for a real peace 18:08  |  Robert/Montreal 12/06/08
      31.   #27 Todd it is just they forgot about the six day war. IDF can do 18:11  |  Robert/Montreal 12/06/08
      32.   sometimes work accidents are beneficial... 18:12  |  Gabriel (zionist) 12/06/08
      33.   Maybe POP #1 should actually read the story 18:17  |  Elihu 12/06/08
      34.   The meaning of Terrorism... 18:21  |  Palestinian in UK 12/06/08
      35.   Win win situation for Hamas propaganda 18:23  |  Jon 12/06/08
      36.   #11 Honest observation 18:23  |  Elihu 12/06/08
      37.   "A heavy vehicle" equals "a massive attack"? 18:26  |  Rowan 12/06/08
      38.   I understand the Beaches of Gaza/Beirutwere once Beautiful 18:43  |  Robert/Montreal 12/06/08
      39.   #34, maybe they should move, like you did! 18:51  |  DR 12/06/08
      40.   Need New Policy 18:53  |  Rich 12/06/08
      41.   Thanks G-d and the IDF 19:02  |  KUTW 12/06/08
      42.   The pal mortar squad 19:06  |  KUTW 12/06/08
      43.   The terrorists keep babies in bombs factories 19:08  |  KUTW 12/06/08
      44.   Questions for Palestinian in the UK 19:11  |  Darth Zaider (Ed) 12/06/08
      45.   Elihu-# 36 19:12  |  Honest Observation 12/06/08
      46.   25 wounded in bomb factory explosion 19:13  |  KUTW 12/06/08
      47.   Rabbi Abraham Sherman Halacha 19:26  |  Abraham Cykiert 12/06/08
      48.   Natallie - where are on this issue? 19:27  |  William 12/06/08
      49.   curcus back in town: Hamas accused Israel in the harting civilian 19:29  |  Just Cause 12/06/08
      50.   POP yes, and Hamas should stop giving 19:30  |  Lynn 12/06/08
      51.   THE DAMAGE IS ALREADY DONE HERE 19:33  |  Ian 12/06/08
      52.   Pal in the UK#34 - consider how the Arab world views you 19:48  |  William 12/06/08
      53.   Imiagine how the world would scream... 20:01  |  Mike 12/06/08
      54.   The Meaning of Terrorism....PA in UK 20:21  |  AnakAdeen 12/06/08
      55.   What do troops at fence mean? 37 20:34  |  Seth Greenberg 12/06/08
      56.   #30 Robert/Montreal - No easy solutions 20:41  |  Yonatan 12/06/08
      57.   54 Unfortunately your aunt, like many other Jews today forgot 20:41  |  son of a survivor 12/06/08
      58.   OK, I accept it, Islamofascism is the problem 20:43  |  POP 12/06/08
      59.   How other Arabs treat Palestinians - a personal experience 20:52  |  Yonatan 12/06/08
      60.   POP #1 20:54  |  Neal 12/06/08
      61.   Damm these immoral pals 20:55  |  Adrian de Kerk 12/06/08
      62.   Civilian targets = Civil army response 20:58  |  Benjamin Kugielsky 12/06/08
      63.   #37 to Rowan 21:22  |  Erik 12/06/08
      64.   Sooner or later they will succeed 21:44  |  Boris 12/06/08
      65.   #16, common sense, exactly right 21:45  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 12/06/08
      66.   Hamas answers all those advocating a "lull" 22:00  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 12/06/08
      67.   To Israel: Wake Up Before It`s Too Late 22:05  |  Dave Levy 12/06/08
      68.   Same stuborness... 22:17  |  georges 12/06/08
      69.   So the IDF are CONGRATULATING themselves..... 22:19  |  Dagma