The most serious of Thursday's attacks occurred at approximately 9:30 PM Thursday. Terrorists waiting in ambush fired at an army vehicle traveling north of the community of Eshkolot, almost 20 kilometers northeast of Be'er Sheva. All four wounded soldiers were evacuated to Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva, including two with wounds still listed this morning as moderate-to-serious.
Army forces arrived on the scene, combed the area for the terrorists, and placed two nearby Arab villages under curfew. Arab sources claimed that large Israeli forces entered the villages. Many empty bullet casings were found at the side of the road where the terrorists fired, as well as a PLO flag.
The Al-Aqsa Brigades of Fatah claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was retaliating for Israel's violations of the cease-fire – though no such violations were registered.
In an earlier attack yesterday, near an IDF position at the Kisufim Crossing into Gush Katif, an Arab taxi traveling northwards stopped at the side of the road, with the driver claiming a vehicular break-down. While the passengers got out to deal with the "problem," a terrorist suddenly burst out from within the car, threw a grenade and started firing at the soldiers. The troops, however, stormed and killed him. Two soldiers were lightly wounded. Two weeks ago, GSS agent Oded Sharon was murdered in a terror attack at the same crossing, which was immediately closed until further notice – a few days later.
Elsewhere in Gaza Thursday, IDF forces discovered and safely detonated a 40-kg. (88-lb.) explosive device on the patrol fence. Israeli forces arrested two wanted Hamas terrorists last night – one north of Ramallah, and another one in Hevron.
In an afternoon attack southeast of Jenin, soldiers were bombarded with rocks – and one of the troops was lightly wounded in his hand. The Israelis responded with rubber bullets, while the wounded soldier was transported to Tel HaShomer Hospital in Tel Aviv. Further to the west, near the community of Avnei Heifetz, police arrested two terrorists carrying grenades.
A 16-year-old was caught carrying 4-kg. explosive, a weapon and 20 bullets through a checkpoint south of Shechem. He was apparently supposed to transfer it to a terrorist waiting on the other side who was to carry out a suicide attack. The boy said that those who gave him the bomb told him, "Don't worry, the soldiers won't shoot you." This was the third time in ten months that a boy has been caught trying to carry explosives through that checkpoint.
On Wednesday, a similar attempt was thwarted when a woman was caught trying to pass through a southern Gaza checkpoint with hundreds of bullets hidden in a vegetable crate.