Mortar fire in Rafah
Mortar fire in RafahAbed Rahim Khatib/Flash 90

Terrorist forces in the Gaza Strip continued to fire mortar shells at IDF engineering units operating on the Israeli side of the border on Wednesday.

Security officials that unlike other attacks over the past year and a half which were carried out primarily by competing terror factions, Hamas was directly responsible for the recent escalation.

Hamas terrorists have fired a total of six mortar shells into Israel since Tuesday, with five attacks on Wednesday alone.

Israel responded to the mortar attacks with tank and artillery fire.

No injuries were reported in any of the attacks.

Experts believe Hamas is concerned by Israeli efforts to locate and destroy terror tunnels along the Gaza border, and that the terror group is signaling its willingness to defend the tunnel network by force.