Israel Strikes Hamas After Gaza Bulldozer Hits Explosive Device

The Israeli military (IDF) struck Hamas infrastructure in Gaza on Monday evening, September 21, following an incident where an IDF bulldozer hit an explosive device in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian sources reported the strike in the Daraj Tufah area of Gaza City. The IDF characterized the explosion, which damaged a D9 armored bulldozer during routine activity near the Gaza border fence, as a "gross violation of the ceasefire agreement by Hamas." The IDF did not specify if the device was planted before or after the ceasefire.

In a separate incident on the same day, Israeli special forces arrested two Palestinian terrorists in the West Bank town of Kabatiya who were allegedly planning an imminent attack. Simultaneously, security forces marked a home for demolition belonging to the terrorist who killed Natanel Shokrun near the settlement of Neve Tzuf on September 20. The terrorist, identified as 37-year-old Hamas operative Qadri Samara, reportedly acted alone.

According to initial investigations, Samara drove to an area near Neve Tzuf on September 20 and opened fire on Shokrun's vehicle. Shokrun, a father of six from the Alei Zahav settlement and a high-tech analyst, was critically wounded and later died at Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva. His 16-year-old son, who was in the car, was unharmed. An IDF tracker in a nearby armored vehicle spotted Samara, shot, and wounded him. Samara managed to escape to a clinic in Ramallah, where Duvdevan special forces apprehended him in his hospital bed.

During a broader operation in the village of Biddu, the terrorist's home village, forces searched suspicious locations, interrogated 90 individuals, and discovered a hunting rifle.