Hamas attempts mass casualty attack on Israeli border post
Tuesday, April 22, 2008 Free Headline Alerts
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. 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.