Soldiers near Gaza (illustration)
Soldiers near Gaza (illustration)Flash 90

Israeli troops shot dead an Arab terrorist in northern Gaza near the border with the Jewish state on Friday, emergency services and the news agency of the Hamas government said, according to AFP.

The man's body was recovered east of Beit Hanun, the emergency services said.

The local Al-Rai news agency confirmed "the martyrdom of a young man of around 20 shot by the occupiers' bullets."

The IDF said in response that soldiers had opened fire at terrorists near the border and scored hits in retaliation to Arab violence, including the launching of a mortar round that hit southern Israel.

The soldiers opened fire when the Arabs failed to heed to calls to stop.

"During the past few hours several incidents took place along the security fence with the Gaza Strip," a statement quoted by AFP said.

"Palestinians caused damage to the northern security fence, fired a mortar shell that hit the Shaar HaNegev regional council, rioted and hurled rocks at soldiers in the northern Gaza Strip and neared the fence in an attempt to enter Israel," the statement said.

"Soldiers attempted to contain these violent events by calling out to the Palestinians but to no avail, and in accordance with the incident used live fire. Several hits were identified.”

Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesman for the Gaza emergency services, said four other people were also wounded by Israeli gunfire near the border.

The last deadly incident in Gaza was on November 1, when four Hamas terrorists were killed and five Israeli soldiers wounded during an army operation to destroy a Gaza-Israel tunnel.

The soldiers were working on destroying the tunnel that was dug by terrorists and led from Gaza into an Israeli kibbutz, when an explosive device was detonated, hurting the soldiers.

The IDF responded by opening fire at terrorists who were in the area, killing four Hamas commanders.

Two weeks ago, Gaza terrorists fired two Qassam rockets into southern Israel. The rockets landed in an uninhabited areas; no injuries were reported

IDF officials have stated that Hamas has continued to grow stronger in recent months. The Gaza Division has reportedly been conducting numerous training exercises in advance of another conflict. 

Despite the constant rocket attacks and other terror attacks, Israel continues to provide Gaza with humanitarian aid and other materials.

Just this week, as a winter storm caused heavy flooding in parts of Gaza, Israel allowed a diesel delivery into the region.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American Desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)