Kissufim crossing area
Photo: Reuters
IDF kills Palestinian in Gaza for first time since truce declared
Givati soldiers shoot dead Palestinian attempting to infiltrate Israel near Kissufim crossing; still unclear whether man was looking to carry out terror attack or seek work; no weapons found on his body
Palestinian sources in Gaza reported Thursday morning that a Palestinian was killed by IDF fire near the Kissufim crossing. They did not say whether the man was a gunman belonging to one of the terror organizations or a civilian attempting to infiltrate Israel in order to seek work.
The IDF said that during the incident, which occurred at around 4 am, soldiers manning an observation point in the area spotted a suspicious figure approaching the security fence near the Kissufim crossing in south Gaza. Givati Brigade soldiers who arrived at the scene noticed that the Palestinian was heading toward Israeli territory, demanded that he halt and fired warning shots in the air.
The man continued to move toward the Israeli side of the border, at which point the soldiers fired in the air once more and then aimed at the suspect's lower body; when he did not stop the soldiers resume their fire and killed him.
IDF officials said no weapons were found on the Palestinian's body, but an initial investigation into the incident, the first of its kind since the ceasefire between Israel and armed Palestinian groups in Gaza went into effect about a month ago, revealed that the soldiers operated according to army protocol.
"The area has seen numerous attempts to infiltrate Israel and plant explosives (along the fence)," an IDF official said, "When Palestinians attempt to cross into Israel they are considered terror suspects."
The army has warned that Palestinians who come within 1,000 feet of the security fence will be risking their lives. "We are committed to preventing act of terror against soldiers and Israeli civilians residing in Gaza-vicinity communities, so after the Palestinian did not obey the soldiers' order to stop, there was no other choice but to open fire at him," the IDF official said.
Hanan Greenberg contributed to the report
