Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered the Israel Defense Forces, on Thursday afternoon, to respond quickly as needed to respond to the attack on a bus at the Sa'ad Junction near Gaza. Barak added that he sees Hamas as responsible for any attack or incident originating in Gaza.
A 13-year-old boy on the bus was critically wounded and the driver was moderately wounded when a shell exploded next to the bus. The shell was either an anti-tank shell launched at Israeli soldiers or a mortar shell.