The IDF on Wednesday afternoon wrapped up its Gaza Strip operations in which at least 12 Palestinians were killed and 40 wounded, according to Palestinian and other reports. Two IDF troops were lightly wounded during the operations that took place near Karni Crossing, when their armored personnel carrier was hit by an anti-tank missile.

The IDF said IAF aircraft fired at a group of armed Palestinian operatives who were headed towards IDF troops. Several of the gunmen were reportedly killed.

Earlier, troops from the Givati infantry brigade, backed by tanks and armored vehicles, swept into the southern Gaza Strip under cover from attack helicopters and took up positions on the outskirts of Khan Yunis.

As the troops entered the Palestinian territory, they encountered fierce resistance and came under gunfire and anti-tank fire. The IDF said that it had shot and killed at least two armed Palestinians in the southern Gaza town.

Also Wednesday, eight Kassam rockets fired from northern Gaza landed in and around Sderot and eight mortars landed in open areas in the western Negev. No one was wounded in the attacks.

Meanwhile, Hamas radio reported that the IAF carried out an air strike on a vehicle in Gaza City. According to the report, Ra'ad Fanuna, a high-ranking Islamic Jihad operative implicated in manufacturing Kassam rockets and firing them at the western Negev, was killed in the blast.

The IDF would not confirm the air strike but the Islamic Jihad vowed revenge.

Palestinians also reported four people killed, one of them a child, by a tank shell in the Gaza City neighborhood of Sajaya. The IDF denied the report.

The army would confirm, however, that it had killed one Palestinian gunman in operations near the Karni crossing, adding that the objective of the operations was to uncover terror infrastructure and tunnels being dug into Israel.

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's office released a statement condemning the IDF operations. "The crimes that were committed in the Gaza Strip by the Israeli occupation must be strongly condemned," read the statement.

The statement continued: "This bloody escalation, which was initiated by the Israeli government, is a distinct violation of the tahadiyeh, and will lead to a chain of retaliations and the prolongation of violence."

The PA chairman's office went on to say that "this aggression comes only a single day after the Sharm e-Sheikh summit and calls into question whether Israel really intends to seal an agreement and negotiate to end the occupation."

In another incident overnight Tuesday, one Palestinian gunman was killed and three more were wounded in a firefight with IDF forces near Jenin.

According to the IDF, troops operating in the area surrounded a building in which the gunmen were hiding. When the four attempted to escape, IDF forces opened fire, moderately wounding and subsequently arresting one of the gunmen.

The remaining gunmen fled back to the building, and when they made another attempt to flee an hour later, IDF troops opened fire again and wounded them. The two were taken to Ha'emek Hospital in Afula and were set to be transferred to the Shin Bet for questioning.

The gunmen threw a bomb at IDF soldiers during the operation, but no IDF troops were hurt.

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