Israeli military: Airstrike targets Gaza militants, 1 killed

Officials in Gaza reported that one person was killed and three were wounded in the attack.

The Israel Air Force struck a terrorist cell in northern Gaza which was in the process of attempting to plant an explosive device on the border with Israel on Wednesday morning, the army said.

It declined to provide further details on the raid.

Hamas announced on Twitter that 23 year-old Musa Zuiater was killed and three others were injured in the strike. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a militant group affiliated with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah group, later identified the deceased as a member, saying he was targeted while planting explosives.

Gun-wielding masked militants from the group were seen attending his funeral in the Jabalia refugee camp.

During Operation Protective Edge in 2014, Israeli troops destroyed 32 tunnels from the Gaza Strip that were dug across the border into Israel. The blockade, which has cut off the territory from the outside world, has led to an economic and humanitarian crisis in the densely-populated enclave. “The IDF will continue to protect the residents of Israel and the forces guarding them on the borders”, IDF Spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said.

The attack marked a rare flare-up along the Gaza border, which has remained largely calm since a 50-day summer war in 2014.

Hamas “apparently is not concerned at all about easing the suffering of the people in the Gaza Strip and insists on wasting time by postponement and creating excuses”, the government said in a statement after its weekly meeting in both Gaza and the West Bank via the video conference system.

A number of Palestinians have also been shot dead by Israeli military forces during popular demonstrations, over 20 of whom were killed in the Gaza Strip.