4 IDF SOLDIERS WOUNDED AFTER EXPLOSIVE DEVICE DETONATED NEAR GAZA BORDER

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n what may be the worst incident along the Gaza border since Operation Protective Edge in 2014, four Israeli soldiers were wounded after an explosive device was detonated against their military jeep while on patrol along the Gaza border fence Saturday afternoon.
4 IDF soldiers wounded after explosive device detonated near Gaza border

 An Israeli military jeep drives near Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip December 10, 2017.. (photo credit: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN)

According to the IDF, two soldiers are in serious condition and two others moderately and lightly injured after the device exploded. They were evacuated to Saroka Hospital in Beersheba by military helicopter.

In response, an IDF tank targeted an observation post in the southern Gaza Strip.

“This was a severe terror attack that has the potential to destablize the region,” said IDF Spokeman Brig.-Gen. Ronen Manelis, adding that Hamas is responsible for the attack.

The incident occurred around 4 p.m. in southern Gaza east the city of Khan Younis when a patrol from the Golani infantry brigade arrived to neutralize a suspicious flag that was spotted on the Palestinian side of the fence following protests which broke out along the border fence on Friday.

While the flag to which the IED was attached was spotted on the Palestinian side of the fence, the troops were on the Israeli side of the fence when it detonated.

According to IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Ronen Manelis, while the IED is not believed to have been placed by either Hamas or Islamic Jihad, Israel holds Hamas responsible for everything which occurs “under and above the Gaza Strip.”

Nonetheless, according to Palestinian media reports the observation post struck by an IDF tank shell belonged to the armed wing of Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Saraya al-Quds.

“I will not answer if this incident calls for a stronger response, I will let the planes give that answer,” Manelis stated when asked if there would be additional retaliatory strikes.

A statement from the nearby Eshkol Regional Council stressed that there were no ramifications for residents and no changes to security instructions as it “was a military incident that occured on the border.”

The incident occured during Israel’s annual “Darom Adom” (Red South) festival where hundreds of tourists gather in southern Israel to enjoy the red Anemones flowering in the Northern Negev.

While the tension has risen on Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip in recent months, the discovery and detonation of improvised explosive devices causing injuries to soldiers along border fence are rare. Few have been discovered since the end of Operation Protective Edge, once in early 2015, another in April 2016 and another two in March 2017.

The two IEDs discovered last year were neutralized after they were found laid in an area which is off-limits in the northern Gaza Strip in order to harm IDF troops. After they were neutralized the charges were taken in for further examination. There were no injuries in the incident.

While Israel’s security establishment does not believe that Hamas wants another conflict with Israel, the situation remains fragile especially because of the worsening humanitarian conditions in the Gaza enclave.

Earlier this month, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot warned an Israeli cabinet meeting that a renewed conflict between Gaza-based terrorist organization Hamas and Israel could take place this year if Gaza’s dire economic and humanitarian situation is not resolved.

Eisenkot added that rehabilitating Gaza must only follow the return of the bodies of IDF soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, as well as the release of Israeli civilians Avraham Abera Mengistu, Hisham al-Sayed and Juma Ibrahim Abu Ghanima who are all held in Gaza.

While the Chief of Staff stated that efforts should be made to prevent a total humanitarian collapse in Gaza, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman rejected the notion that there was a humanitarian crisis in the Hamas-run enclave, calling it “difficult.”

“Hamas should first and foremost stop investing money in wars and killing and divert those funds to development,” he said. “The 2017 budget for Hamas’s military wing was $260 million, all of which were invested in tunnels and manufacturing rockets.”

According to senior IDF officers, the dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is the worst it has been in decades. There is a skyrocketing unemployment rate (46%), especially among youth, and those who are lucky enough to find work receive salaries which are just over $400.  Nearly 80% of Gaza residents receive some form of aid.

The Rafiah crossing with Egypt has also been closed for 329 days of the year and the amount of trucks entering the enclave from the Kerem Shalom crossing, the sole commercial crossing into the Strip, has also dropped from between 800-1,200 trucks a per day to 300-400 trucks.

Source:jpost.com