Lt. Gen Gantz and Southern Command Major General Tal Russo toured the Kerem Shalom crossing area Monday morning, less than 24 hours after a gang of jihad terrorists carried out a well-planned attack on Egyptian soldiers, killing 16 of them and wounded several others, but failing in their second objective to kidnap and murder Israelis.

“The speed of the cooperation between the various forces enabled us to thwart a terror attack within 15 minutes” said the Chief of Staff. “I would like to express my appreciation for the alertness of the forces, specifically the alertness of the intelligence, and the determination of the soldiers operating in the field.

“I estimate we prevented a large-scale disaster, an extremely complex attack by terrorists operating between Sinai and the Gaza Strip," he said. 

Southern Commander Russo added, “The soldiers operated at every spot through which the [terrorists] vehicle attempted to enter. There were many clashes till the vehicle was destroyed, while it was tracked and surrounded by IAF and Armored Corps forces along with regional infantry soldiers. The vehicle was destroyed from attacks both in the air and on ground. The terrorists who attempted to fire at the soldiers even after the vehicle was destroyed were targeted as well.”

Before reaching the Kerem Shalom crossing in a stolen Egyptian armored personnel carrier (APC), the global jihad terrorists captured an Egyptian military post near the border city of Rafiah, killing 16 soldiers before taking over two APCs.

Israel’s intelligence officials had alerted soldiers in the Gaza area of an imminent attack and patrols were beefed before the clashes began.

IDF spokesman Yoav Mordechai pointed out that “the IDF is ruling out the possibility a solider is missing or was abducted.” He stressed that no injuries were reported as a result of the fire. IDF soldiers thoroughly searched the area to ensure that no terrorists infiltrated via the border or are currently in the Gaza Belt area.