Shoket Junction gunwoman identified as 15-year-old Bedouin

Israel Defense Forces troops on Saturday shot and killed a Bedouin teenager after she opened fire on a Border Police barracks at Shoket Junction in the south.

The attacker was identified as 15-year-old Basma Awad al-Nabari of the nearby Houra village. Police believe she acted independently and had no ties to Palestinian terror groups.

Al-Nabari arrived at Shoket Junction shortly before 2 P.M. and walked firmly towards the main gate of the base. When she tried to fire on the sentry from a distance of a few meters, he turned the barrel away and escaped the bullets. She then ran away and took cover, while the sentry and another officer who had arrived at the scene tried to persuade her to turn herself in.

When the brief negotiation failed, another gun battle ensued, at the end of which the officer shot the attacker dead.

Police Commissioner David Cohen held a makeshift press conference at the scene, in which he urged the public to remain alert.

"This is the third time in a month someone attempts policemen's lives," Cohen said. "In this case as well, police reacted swiftly and efficiently. I'm calling on the public to be alert and inform police about every suspicious occurrence."

Security forces were searching the nearby area for other accomplices, arms and explosives. Due to police activity, the roads leading to Shoket Junction have been congested.

Earlier on Saturday, IDF soldiers shot and killed two Palestinian gunmen in a confrontation near the Gaza Strip security fence, Palestinian medics said.

An IDF spokesperson confirmed troops had shot at several gunmen in northern Gaza at around 8:30 on Saturday morning, hitting two of them, but could not confirm that the two had been killed. No Israeli soldiers were hurt in the incident.

The troops found several weapons and an explosive device at the scene that had been placed there by the gunmen.

Medics in Gaza said the IDF had so far prevented them from picking up the two bodies at the scene.

No militant group has claimed responsibility for the gunmen.

The Gaza border has seen sporadic Israeli-Palestinian violence despite a mid-January ceasefire achieved after a three-week Israeli offensive against the Hamas Islamist rulers of the coastal territory.