The Israeli military has said three suspects were killed near the security fence separating the southern Gaza Strip from Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a Telegram post that “several suspects… approached the border from the Gaza Strip and moved towards Israel in an attempt to cross the security zone in the Rafah area.”
According to the post, the IDF forces “engaged the terrorists who opened fire on them. The forces then fired back at the terrorists.”
Two of the suspects were killed by an “Israeli Air Force aircraft monitoring the terrorist cell,” while another was shot dead by a tank not long after, the IDF said, stressing that the suspects had not crossed the fence. “The incident is under investigation,” it added.
It was initially not possible to independently verify the Israeli statement.
The war in Gaza was sparked by the unprecedented massacre wrought on October 7 by militants from Hamas and other extremist Palestinian organizations in Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip.
The militants killed more than 1,200 people and abducted more than 250 hostages to the Gaza Strip.
Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive. So far, 36,550 people have been killed and another 82,959 injured, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority.
