Three Palestinians armed with knives and grenades were apprehended Tuesday morning some 20 kilometers inside Israel after an hours search that began when trackers found footprints near the Gaza border fence.
The three men were stopped near Kibbutz Tze’elim, some 20 kilometers east of the Kerem Shalom border crossing. The IDF said the incident is being investigated.
Tensions have been mounting on the Gaza border in recent weeks. On Saturday night, four Gazans crossed into Israel and vandalized mechanical equipment used by construction teams working on an underground anti-tunnel obstacle along the border. The four managed to make their way back into Gaza before the arrival of IDF forces.
On Sunday night, Iron Dome missile defense batteries set off some 20 interception rockets after automatic gunfire in the strip was mistaken by the system’s radar for rocket fire.
The incident also took place three days before a planned Hamas demonstration to commemorate Land Day – a day in which Palestinians and Israeli Arabs hold a general strike to commemorate the state of Israel confiscating thousand of acres of Arab land in the Galilee in 1976.
The organization says it plans to bring tens of thousands of Gazans to march on the Israeli border, where they plan to pitch tents and stage a mass demonstration. Hamas officials have called Friday’s march a “general rehearsal” for demonstrations the terror group plans on carrying out in May to mark Nakba Day, the Palestinian term for Israel’s independence.
