Israeli troops shot and killed an armed Hamas terrorist who had crossed the Gaza perimeter fence and fired on soldiers, the military said Thursday.

Three soldiers were shot in the overnight shootout with the gunman. In response, a tank “targeted a Hamas military post in Gaza,” the Israeli army said in a statement. Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, an army spokesman, told reporters that the military believes the terrorist acted alone.

There was no official statement from Hamas.

Palestinians identified the slain gunman as Hani Abu Salah, a member of the armed wing of Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza. Mosques in the southern Gaza Strip announced Abu Salah’s death and called on Gazans to attend his funeral.

The terrorist entered Israel armed with an AK-47 Kalashnikov assault rifle and a number of grenades. The wounded Golani Brigade soldiers were transported to the trauma center of Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva.

Thursday’s cross-border incident took place as the White House’s chief Mideast envoy, Jared Kushner, is making a tour of the region in a bid to advance the Trump administration’s long-awaited peace plan between Israel and the Palestinians.

Kushner met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday in Jerusalem following a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Amman. The Palestinians have cut off all contacts with the White House and pre-emptively rejected the peace plan, accusing the administration of being unfairly biased toward Israel.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)