A Gaza man, believed to be 24-years-old, was killed while trying to infiltrate Israel on Monday, from the Gaza Strip. As he, together with another five terrorists attempted to cross the border, presumably in order to carry out an attack, an explosive device planted by the IDF was tripped and exploded, killing the man and injuring the other five.

In an effort to prevent infiltrators, the military has embedded explosive devices at intervals along the border to deter terrorists from crossing illegally and stabbing security or civilian personnel on the Israeli side.

Since March 30th, when the weekly protests and almost daily firebomb attacks began along the Gaza Border, there have been dozens of attempted infiltrations by terrorists. The terrorists aim to kill IDF personnel or civilians and hamper the construction of a stronger and more secure fence that is currently being built.

Last January, a budget of some 3.34 billion NIS was approved to build the new and stronger fence. The new fence is thought to be able to block Hamas from digging tunnels into Israel.

The project is one of the biggest and most expensive undertaken in Israel’s history and together with several other measures is meant to protect the 64-kilometer border. YNET news site in Israel reported that every single kilometer of the barrier costs the state NIS 41.5 million.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)