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Ron Ben-Yishai

Hezbollah-style ambush

Analysis: Gaza border incident that left five soldiers injured shows Hamas employing same tactic used by Hezbollah on northern border

Thursday night's Gaza border incident was a pre-planned Hamas ambush targeting IDF forces operating near a tunnel that was exposed last month, it is safe to assume.

 

The explosive device that hit the five soldiers was not laid on the border fence but some 100 meters west of it, i.e. inside Gaza territory, on the outer layer of a strip of land west of the border fence. From time to time IDF soldiers enter this space to prevent terrorists from placing explosives and targeting troops.

 

In the past, this strip of land was 300 to 500 meters wide. But its width has been sized down to 100 meters following Egyptian-brokered negotiations between Israel and Hamas after Operation Pillar of Defense.

 

The soldiers likely did not deviate from this area but the Palestinians laid explosives either inside the strip or right on its western perimeter with the clear intention of harming IDF soldiers trying to dismantle explosives found in the tunnel.

 

The relatively small device could not hit troops on the Israeli side of the fence, but only those beyond the fence. It can therefore be deduced that the bomb was laid after Hamas observed IDF troops deactivating explosives in the tunnel in recent days. Hamas also placed an armed cell directly opposite the spot where the troops drove over the device.

 

Hezbollah employs an identical tactic on the Lebanese border where a similar strip of land is occasionally is used by Israeli soldiers to exercise sovereignty. Last August, an IDF force drove over explosives on the northern border under similar circumstances. This suggests that Hamas and Hezbollah are drawing lessons from each other's experiences.

 

The force dismantling the tunnel met a pre-planned Hamas ambush. While Hamas claims that the IDF infiltrates Gaza territory, it ignores the fact that digging a terror tunnel reaching Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha is a serious violation of understandings reached following Operation Pillar of Defense and the agreement with Egypt.

 

 

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פרסום ראשון: 11.01.13, 12:23
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