The IDF killed two terrorists in counterterrorism operations in northern Gaza Thursday morning. Soldiers in the Armor and Givati Brigades spotted the two enemy gunmen placing a bomb next to the security barrier and opened fire at them. The troops' initial firing killed one of the terrorists, but the second one fled.
IDF forces immediately conducted a sweep of the area and found and killed the second terrorist.
Both terrorists were found to be carrying Kalashnikov assault rifles and ammunition. No soldiers were injured in the incident. Kalashnikov AK-47s are the type of weapons Israel handed over to PA police under the Oslo Accords to help them fight terrorists.
Clashes have continued in the region since early Thursday morning, particularly in the area of the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiyeh, located less than a mile away from the rocket-battered western Negev city of Sderot and less than 10 miles south of Ashkelon.
Terrorists Use Russian-Made Guided Anti-Tank Missile
According to a report by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Gaza terrorists recently used a Russian-made Fagot guided anti-tank missile for the first time.
The missile, which has a range of 1.5 miles, can be guided after it is fired. Its existence in the Hamas arsenal demonstrates how successful at smuggling advanced weaponry into Gaza Hamas has become.
Much of the materiel is provided by Syria, Iran and Hizbullah terrorists in Lebanon, and brought into Gaza by sea or through smuggling tunnels under the Egyptian border.
US Trains Egyptian Soldiers to Find Tunnels
American army officers who have been training Palestinian Authority security forces are currently teaching Egyptian soldiers to locate and destroy smuggling tunnels, according to a diplomatic source.
The Egyptian soldiers are being trained at a base in Texas, with advanced instruments that identify where the tunnels are being dug.
The Bush administration and Israel have both complained that Cairo is not making an honest attempt to stop terrorists from smuggling explosives, weapons and operatives into Gaza.