Air Force aircraft fired at a Palestinian terror cell early Tuesday as its members were attempting to plant an explosive device near the central Gaza Strip border fence.I haven't seen anything in the Arabic media yet about any casualties from the third strike on Monday; but Hamas confirms that one of its members was killed in the second airstrike. He is praised as having had a great career in Jihad.
The army said the attack target was hit. Palestinian sources later confirmed that the strike left casualties on the Palestinian side; no further details were provided.
“The IDF will not tolerate any bid to harm the State of Israel’s citizens and IDF soldiers and will continue to operate against any element that utilizes terror against the State of Israel,” the military said following the strike. “The Hamas terror group is the address and it bears the responsibility.”
The latest attack marked the third Israeli airstrike in the Strip in the past 24 hours.
Earlier, the Air Force struck a terror cell as it prepared to fire rockets at Israel; two terrorists were killed in that strike, including a member of Hamas’ military wing, Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. The strike was carried out after a rocket exploded in southern Israel, causing no injuries.
Keep in mind that this current uptick started when Gaza terrorist snipers targeted an Israeli civilian driving a tractor on Israel's side of the border with Gaza. They weren't shooting to "terrorize," they were shooting to kill.
If this surge of Gaza strikes and Israeli counter-strikes continue, we can expect that Israel will kill ten terrorists or so before a Gaza civilian gets accidentally killed. Once that happens then the hate-Israel crowd will turn that person into a martyr for their cause of demonizing Israel. They'll be especially gleeful if it is a woman or a child. They will purposefully ignore all the events that will have led up to that death as well as the amazing - but not yet perfect - accuracy of the IAF in targeting terrorists.