Hamas attempts mass casualty attack on Israeli border post
TEL AVIV — Hamas used armored personnel carriers and a suicide car
loaded with bombs in the boldest attack since the
Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005.
On April 19, two Hamas BRDM-2s, acquired from Russia and laden with
explosives, slammed into the Keren Shalom border crossing with Israel, Middle East Newsline reported.
Thirteen soldiers were injured in what Galant said marked Hamas's attempt to
execute a mass-casualty strikes.
The military said Hamas sent three explosive-laden vehicles toward Keren
Shalom, a conduit for 200 trucks with food and humanitarian supplies from
Israel to the Gaza City. Two were identified as military jeeps and the third
an armored vehicle — all of them detonated by remote control amid a mortar
barrage.
Hours later, a fourth booby-trapped vehicle approached the Gaza Strip
security fence near Kibbutz Nirim. The military said it detonated the
vehicle before it struck the fence.
"We haven't seen such attacks since the Disengagement, synchronized
across the Gaza Strip, aimed at mass killing and the kidnapping of soldiers
into Gaza by armored vehicles, ruining the Passover holiday and casting a
grave shadow on celebrations of Israel's 60th anniversary," Maj. Gen. Yoav
Gallant, chief of the military's Southern Command, said.
The Israel Air Force responded with strikes on Hamas and other positions
throughout Sunday. At least six Hamas fighters were killed in the northern
Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, Palestinian gunners fired missiles into Israel. At least
eight missiles were launched from the northern Gaza Strip.
Military commanders said Hamas squads have been focusing on the Israeli
presence along the border of the Gaza Strip.
