Four
Israeli Soldiers Murdered in Attack on IDF Checkpoint in Northern
Gaza Strip
June 8, 2003
Three IDF reserve
soldiers and one warrant officer were killed this morning in a terrorist
attack on an IDF outpost in the Erez industrial area situated in
the Northern Gaza Strip. Four more soldiers were wounded in the
attack, one moderately, and three others lightly. The families of
the casualties have been notified.
An initial investigation
indicates that three terrorists, wearing IDF uniforms and armed
with Kalashnikovs and grenades, infiltrated the outpost by first
passing through the checkpoint for Palestinian laborers on their
way to work in the Erez industrial zone. They then crossed the fence
and the wall separating the outpost from the industrial zone.
Having reached
the entrance of the outpost, the terrorists opened fire and threw
grenades at a warrant officer who was standing outside, killing
him. The terrorists continued to fire and killed two soldiers who
were on guard duty at the outpost gates.
The terrorists
then managed to penetrate further into the outpost. They stood at
a post from which they fired toward the outpost’s soldiers. One
soldier was killed and four more were injured.
Soldiers from
the outpost’s first response team acted quickly, identified the
terrorists’ location, and killed them.
It should be
noted that since the beginning of the current conflict, there have
been 6 terrorist attacks at the Erez crossing, and 3 terrorist attacks
at other crossings in the Gaza Strip, including the attack at the
Karni crossing two months ago in which two Israeli civilians were
killed.
Source:
IDF
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