The IDF reported that around 8:15 pm on Sunday, August 5, 2012, one of the armored vehicles hijacked by a terrorist cell in an Egyptian base near Rafah, likely boobytrapped, exploded as it rammed through the Kerem Shalom crossing. The second crossed into Israel and was destroyed by an air strike. Several of the terrorists tried to escape from the armored vehicle, but were hit by IAF fire.

The attack came shortly after a mortar barrage from the Gaza Strip pounded the Kerem Shalom border crossing in Israel and rockets were fired at adjacent towns. It is believed that the terrorists who tried to infiltrate Israel were planning a major terror attack. No Israelis were reported injured in the attack. Israeli residents in the area were told to stay inside their homes late into the night.

As a result of the attack, the Kerem Shalom crossing will remain closed for the transfer of goods between Israel and Gaza on Monday, August 6.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak congratulated the IDF for thwarting the attack and called on the new Egyptian government to immediately work to restore control over Sinai.

Earlier, in a joint IDF-ISA operation, IAF aircraft targeted a Global Jihad-affiliated terrorist squad in the southern Gaza Strip which was planning another terrorist attack in the immediate future near the Israel-Egypt border. One of the terrorists, Ahmad Said Ismail, was among those responsible for the June 18, 2012 terror attack adjacent to the Israel-Egypt border, in which an Israeli civilian was killed.