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Twenty armed Palestinians were killed this week before they reached firing positions on the border or managed to cross over. Our military sources report they were killed by Golani Brigade troops, who drove into the Gaza Strip and intercepted Hamas gunmen heading for the fence. Among them was a three-man Hamas mortar crew on its way to shell Kerem Shalom.Hamas has been massing mortar units at the northern and southern ends of the Gaza Strip and pounding Nahal Oz, Kerem Shalom and IDF bases and patrols at the rate of 20 rounds a day. The Palestinian death toll also include two terrorists who were prevented from planting bombs on the fence.Chief of staff Lt. Gen. Gaby Ashkenazi approved deeper IDF counter-terror thrusts into the Gaza Strip up to 3 km, to ward off the increasingly aggressive Palestinian battering on the fence and escalating cross-border mortar and missile attacks. He made the decision during a tour earlier Wednesday of the Gaza front. Ashkenazi inspected the civilian locations living under attack and was briefed by OC Southern Command Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant.Senior officers of the command explained, according to DEBKAfile’s military sources, that his decision will have little effect on the dire security situation. Israeli forces operate inside the Gaza Strip by night and when they pull out at dawn, Hamas and allied terrorists simply return to their border positions. Although during the day, the Israeli Air Force pursues Palestinian attackers, even the surveillance drones patrolling the fence cannot pick up every move in this massive Hamas-led Palestinian offensive. The chief of staff’s latest decisions are therefore no better than makeshift measures that fall short of winning the battle for the fence or making southwestern Israel secure.As in the days of Noah....
