Reservist killed at Rafiah Yam

[gelatik]

IDF reservist Nisan Avraham, 26, of Lod, was killed, and five other soldiers
and a civilian were wounded in exchanges of gunfire with two Islamic Jihad
terrorists who infiltrated Rafah Yam in the southern Gaza Strip early yesterday
morning.

The soldiers shot and killed the two terrorists who wore blue tiger-striped
uniforms and were armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles, 10 ammunition clips,
and grenades, including one made from a makeshift mortar shell.

The terrorists cut through the electronic warning fence surrounding the
community and ran 50 meters toward an empty building used by soldiers as
sleeping quarters and threw a grenade through its roof.

Soldiers and members of the community's emergency squad spotted the
infiltration and closed in on the terrorists, who continued to shoot at the
soldiers. One of them threw a second grenade that failed to explode.

In the exchanges of gunfire, Avraham was shot dead and five other soldiers
wounded, as was the head of the Gaza Coast Regional Council, who suffered a
gunshot wound in the back. All the wounded were taken to Soroka Hospital in
Beersheba. One of the soldiers, whose condition was at first described as
serious, improved after surgery and was in a satisfactory condition last night.

An IDF officer said the gun battle was face-to-face and over within minutes.
The entire incident occurred no more than 70 meters from the first residential
houses in the community, he said. The quick actions of the soldiers and the
emergency squad prevented a tragedy, he said. The IDF has launched an
investigation into the incident.

Elsewhere in the Gaza Strip over the weekend, three mortar shells were fired at
Morag, one at Nisanit, and one at the Netzarim junction. Shots were fired at
soldiers at the Karni crossing and at soldiers in southern Gush Katif. A number
of grenades were thrown at an army position near Rafah. Shots were fired at an
army post at the Erez crossing and at IDF posts at Neveh Dekalim, Katif,
Netzarim, and Gadid.

In the West Bank, shots were fired at an IDF post at Mount Ebal and a bomb was
thrown at a Border Police post in Hebron's Jewish Quarter.