Israel army kill armed Gazans on border as tensions increase

Israeli forces shot dead a group of armed Palestinians along the Gaza Strip’s security fence late Saturday night, hours after three rockets were fired at southern Israel from the restive coastal enclave.

The exact number of Palestinians killed during the suspected infiltration was not immediately known — Gaza-based news outlets reported four or five people killed in the strike, but the health ministry in the enclave put the toll at three.

“A short while ago, IDF (Israel Defence Forces) troops spotted a number of armed suspects adjacent to the security fence in the northern Gaza Strip. An IDF attack helicopter and a tank fired towards them,” the military said in a statement.

Palestinian medics said they retrieved three bodies from the site and Gaza hospital officials said a fourth man was injured.

The incident happened overnight between Saturday and Sunday, shortly after three rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel, one of them landing in a town near the border, according to the Israeli military and police.

There was no immediate comment from any of the major armed groups in Gaza. No Israelis were hurt.

Via Times of Israel / Reuters /