JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli airstrikes hit a Palestinian “terrorist cell” on the border with Gaza, killing one, the Israel Defense Forces said.
In a statement, an IDF spokesman said the cell was planting a bomb Wednesday near the border fence and planned to detonate it when an IDF patrol came by. The IDF said the action was a joint operation of the Air Force and the Shin Bet security service, which gathered intelligence on the imminent attack.
The Palestinian Maan news agency reported that along with the one death, three others were injured in the strike.
Israeli farmers in the area reportedly were told by the IDF to avoid the Gaza border fence area following the strike because of possible retaliatory gunfire.
“IDF forces guarding the border with Gaza face a growing threat from hostile terror groups attempting to destabilize the situation on the ground,” said the IDF spokesman, Lt. Col. Peter Lerner.
The IDF spokesman later said it “defused and detonated two explosive devices planted on the northern Gaza border by the terror cell targeted earlier today.”
