JERUSALEM (AP) – Israel thwarted an attack by more than a dozen militants who sneaked in from Gaza through a tunnel on Thursday, the military said, just hours before Israel and Hamas were to observe a five-hour humanitarian pause in fighting.
The incident came as Israel and Hamas continued to exchange fire for a 10th day, but Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a military spokesman, said it would not endanger the United Nations-brokered break in fighting.
Lerner said 13 militants were identified at the tunnel’s opening some 250 meters (820 feet) inside Israel, near a kibbutz, and were struck by Israeli aircraft. He said the military believed at least one militant was killed in the strike and that the remaining fighters appeared to have returned to Gaza through the tunnel.
Lerner said the attack “could have had devastating consequences” and said the militants were armed with “extensive weapons,” including rocket-propelled grenades.
Neither Hamas nor other Palestinian militant groups immediately claimed the attack.