Blast damages Israel army vehicle in Gaza

An explosive device blew up near the border in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, damaging an Israeli military vehicle, Palestinian witnesses and the army said.

“For the first since since Operation Pillar of Defence, an IDF [army] vehicle was damaged by an explosion of a concealed device laid by terrorists” in Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, an army statement said, referring to Israel’s eight-day bombardment of the enclave in November.

The statement did not say whether anyone was injured in the explosion.

The blast occurred as Israeli army vehicles entered the strip and began bulldozing farmland, witnesses said.

“A number of tanks accompanying military bulldozers penetrated an area more than 100 metres into Palestinian farmland on the border, and began razing it,” a witnesses said.

One local resident said he heard a large explosion that “came from a planted explosive” device and saw one of the bulldozers catch fire.