3 Gazans said killed in IDF strike while attempting to plant explosives



The IDF said it carried out an airstrike Sunday evening targeting three Palestinians who were attempting to sabotage the fence surrounding the Gaza Strip.
The army added that the suspects were “apparently in the process of planting an explosive device” at the southern part of the coastal enclave.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said the three were killed in the raid, near the city of Deir Balah.

Earlier Sunday, the Gaza health ministry announced that a Palestinian had died of gunshot wounds sustained two days earlier, in clashes on the Israel-Gaza border.
The death raised to seven the number of Palestinians killed as a result of Friday’s clashes, when thousands again thronged the border fence. The Gaza health ministry said 170 others were injured.
According to the IDF, some 16,000 Palestinians gathered at five locations along the border on Friday, burning tires and throwing rocks and firebombs at Israeli troops, who responded with tear gas and occasional live fire.
Later, 34 rockets were fired at Israel overnight and into Saturday morning, according to the IDF, 13 of which were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system.
Two of the rockets fell in Gaza and the rest were said to have landed in open areas.
In response to the rocket fire, Israeli aircraft attacked 95 targets in Gaza belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Islamic Jihad announced later on Saturday that it had agreed to an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire to end an escalating exchange of fire with Israel.


There was no immediate acknowledgement of the ceasefire declaration in Israel, which in the past has denied proclamations by Gaza-based terror groups regarding understandings to end the fighting.
Israel views Hamas as ultimately responsible for any attacks emanating from the territory it controls, regardless of the source.
The rocket fire came amid a flareup in violence in the Gaza Strip.
Last week, a rocket was launched at southern Israel from Gaza, triggering sirens in a number of communities in the Eshkol region, ending a week-long stretch of relative calm in the coastal enclave. In response to that attack, the IDF said it hit eight Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, including training bases and a weapons production facility.