Terrorists attempted three attacks in the Gush Katif bloc of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip this week, but no one was hurt.
The attacks came as the Israeli army stepped up security at its outposts in the Gaza Strip.
Appearing before the knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, the commander in charge of the southern sector, Maj. Gen. Shaul Mofaz, said 35 army outposts in Gaza had been fortified against suicide attacks.
Mofaz also said that concrete blocks and sandbag re-enforcements have been set up at a post near the settlement of Netzarim, where terrorists killed four Israeli soldiers in two separate attacks in two weeks.
Tuesday’s attempted attacks included an explosion at the Morag settlement at the southern end of the bloc, and two separate instances in which gunmen opened fire on an army lookout post near the settlement Nezer Hazzani.
Meanwhile, the army altered its standing orders to allow commanders in the field to decide how to react should Palestinian demonstrators threaten a checkpost.
Until now, soldiers had been under orders to retreat to avoid a confrontation and allow the Palestinian police to take over.
However, on Saturday night the Palestinian police failed to intervene when some 300 Hamas supporters overtook the army checkpoint near Netzarim and raised a Palestinian flag.
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