An Israeli soldier and a Palestinian terrorist were killed in a gunbattle on Friday that erupted near the southern Gaza border, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.
The soldier killed in the incident was later identified as Staff Sgt. Netanel Moshiashvili, 21, from Ashkelon who served as a medic in the Golani Brigade. Moshiashvili's funeral was scheduled to take place Friday afternoon at the military cemetery in Ashkelon.
The incident began when a Palestinian terrorist infiltrated into Israel early Friday, setting off a shoot-out that left him and Moshiashvili dead, the IDF said.
The border clash near Kibbutz Nirim touched off fresh violence in the volatile area neighboring Gaza, which has been largely calm since March. However, last week, two Israeli soldiers, one of whom commanded another Golani company, were wounded from sniper fire in the same area.
Friday's exchange of fire began after the terrorist cut through the fence separating the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and southern Israel, prompting Israeli troops to open fire. According to reports, the terrorist succeeded in entering Israel under the cover of early morning fog and was only identified by spotters once he cut through the fence.
The terrorist was reportedly planning either to kidnap an Israeli soldier or to perpetrate a larger-scale shooting attack.
No group has claimed responsibility for the infiltration, but in a text message sent to journalists, a group from Gaza, the Islamic Jihad, welcomed the attack. It identified the attacker as Ahmad Nassar and called him a "martyr who has carried out the heroic attack."
Later, an Israeli army spokesperson said that two rockets fired from Gaza had exploded in southern Israel on Friday, but caused no damage or injuries. A large number of IDF and security forces were deployed near Gaza border communities and were sweeping the area for additional terrorists who may have also crossed the border.
Following the shooting incident, Israeli forces launched airstrikes at targets in Gaza , seriously wounding three people, according to Gaza health official Adham Abu Salmia. According to Army Radio, the airstrikes targeted another suspected terror cell that had been planning to launch rockets into Israel.
Palestinian witnesses said they heard an explosion and shooting near Abassan, a border village in southern Gaza that is also close to the Egyptian frontier. Residents of southern Gaza said they heard gunfire in the early morning hours and described hearing Israeli helicopters circling in the air.
An Israeli security official said air and ground forces had fired warning shots toward open areas in southern Gaza, which Palestinians said set fire to some fields. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss details of military operations.
A senior IDF officer told Channel 2, "The soldiers operated swiftly and managed to kill the terrorist, even though they were completely surprised by the encounter. Spotters noticed the terrorist infiltrating. It's possible he was planning a large-scale attack."
Gaza saw a surge in cross-border fighting in March, but violence had otherwise abated as rival Palestinian factions negotiate power-sharing deals and monitor political developments in Egypt. Friday's incident was considered serious as it shattered the long period of relative quiet along the Gaza border.
The IDF said it holds Gaza's Hamas rulers responsible for the attack. "The Hamas terror organization is solely responsible for any terrorist activity emanating from the Gaza Strip," the statement said.
The flare-up on Friday comes after Israel Security Agency head Yoram Cohen warned on Wednesday that Israel must launch a military operation to rout terrorist organizations from the Gaza Strip.
"The IDF's inaction against terrorist organizations will lead to a situation in which Hamas has far greater abilities in the next round of fighting," Cohen told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
Cohen said Israel’s dilemma was not whether to launch such an offensive, but rather how Hamas would respond. "Such action might force a significant number of people [in Israel] into bomb shelters," Cohen said.
"Since the IDF withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the territory has become a huge weapons depot," Cohen told the committee. "Hamas currently has 8,000 rockets that can reach a range of 4 to 40 km (2.5 to 25 miles)."
