The IDF swiftly responded to a mortar attack on the Western Negev Monday afternoon and killed one armed Gaza terrorist while wounding two others. The soldiers escaped injury, but an army jeep sustained damage.
The mortar shelling hit the Sha’ar HaNegev region, which includes Sderot, located less than a mile from the separation fence at the Gaza area.
The IDF said it hit "a militant who fired an RPG [rocket-propelled grenade] at IDF soldiers" near the border.
The terrorists belong to the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The de facto Hamas government announced several weeks ago that it reached an agreement with other terrorist organizations to halt attacks on the Western Negev. However, missile, rifle and mortar attacks, along with the planting of bombs along the route of the fence, have continued.
The French news agency AFP reported that the area "has been mostly quiet" since the Operation Cast Lead war against the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza last year. However, the IDF noted that during the relative "quiet," more than 90 rockets and mortar shells have been fired on the Negev this year and approximately 330 since the end of Operation Cast Lead.