Defense Minister Bennett
Defense Minister BennettAriel Hermoni, Defense Ministry

Defense Minister and chairman of the Yamina party Naftali Bennett responded to criticism from the left regarding the army's retrieval of a terrorist's body from the attempted attack this morning near the perimeter fence in the southern Gaza Strip.

Bennett said he was "tired of the hypocritical criticism of the left against the 'inhumanity' of having a bulldozer retrieve the body of a terrorist who tried to murder Israelis."

The Defense Minister pushed back against his critics, accusing them of ignoring the fact that the remains of two Israeli soldiers killed in 2014 are still held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

"Benevolent individuals: you're inhumane! Hamas is withholding the bodies of Hadar [Shaul] and Oren [Goldin]," who were killed during Operation Protective Edge.

Bennett reiterated: "I fully support the IDF's [actions]. We will [continue] fighting terrorism head-on."

Earlier, former Peace Now chief Yariv Oppenheimer stated that "The kidnapping of the [terrorists'] bodies with the help of a bulldozer is both shameful and shocking, and will not bring relief to Israeli families or civilians in Gaza." "It'll come back to haunt us," added Oppenheimer.

The IDF released a record of this morning's events in which an Islamic Jihad terrorist squad arrived in the southern Gaza perimeter fence and placed an explosive device in the vicinity of the fence.

The incident began at about 6:30 a.m. when an IDF lookout in the Gaza Division spotted two suspects approaching the border fence on a motorcycle. One of the suspects reached the fence and planted a bomb.

An IDF force from the Haruv special operations unit operating in the area arrived at the scene, firing an anti-aircraft missile at the terrorists and eliminating both of them as a result.

A few minutes after the incident, army bulldozers arrived at the scene in an attempt to retrieve the terrorists' bodies. Fire was exchanged with units of the Islamic Jihad who succeeded in recovering the body of the second terrorist before bulldozers could gather it. At least two other terrorists were hit by IDF gunfire in the shootout.

Following the incident, Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attempted attack, releasing a statement that read, "The brutal crime committed this morning in Khan Yunis by the Occupation will not [be allowed] to pass without our response."

"The ease with which Occupation Forces [are willing] to pull their triggers will be avenged with the blood of our martyrs and we will reply by bombing Tel Aviv. We view the events of this morning gravely. The enemy's intimidations will not deter us from carrying out our mission," the statement added.