(Communicated by the IDF Spokesman)

Five IDF soldiers were killed, two seriously wounded and three moderately wounded in a joint terror attack yesterday afternoon at an IDF post next to a shared checkpoint of Palestinians and IDF soldiers in the Rafah terminal, in the southern Gaza Strip. The families of the casualties have been notified.

The IDF Rafah post after the bombing
(IDF Spokesman)

Initial inquiry indicates that a tunnel filled with explosives was exploded under an IDF post in charge of securing the Palestinians crossing from the Gaza Strip into Egyptian Rafah. Immediately following the explosion, two Palestinian gunmen stormed into the IDF post and opened fire at the soldiers; the soldiers returned fire and two gunmen were killed.

Rescue teams arrived at the scene and quickly evacuated the wounded to hospital. During the rescue work, there were exchanges of fire in which Palestinian snipers and gunmen opened fire and activated an explosive device at the IDF forces.

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In a security forces operation tonight in Gaza city, the Israel Air Force targeted two buildings used by terrorist organizations as part of the weapons manufacturing industry in the Gaza Strip.

The buildings were used by the Hamas terror organization for the manufacturing of different kinds of explosives, including mortar shells and explosive devices, which are used by the organization to carry out terror attacks against Israeli citizens and IDF soldiers.