JERUSALEM, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian militants in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday set off a bomb targeting several Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers, an army source said.
"Earlier this morning an explosive device was detonated against IDF soldiers who were performing routine activity adjacent to the security fence," the source told Xinhua Wednesday.
The powerful blast, which Israel Radio said took place near the Kerem Shalom crossing point, did not cause any casualty or damage.
Troops are combing the area to try to identify the bombers, the radio said.
The attack came after a series of shooting and bombing attacks aimed at soldiers patrolling in the area.
"The Gaza border is simmering. Violence is routine and not all incidents, including rocket launchings, are reported," a defense official told Xinhua last week.
On July 22, Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a troop transport bus while it was travelling along the western border with Egypt.
There were no casualties in the incident, but the bus sustained damage.
Israel Radio said the shots were fired from the Egyptian side of the border near Har Sagi, where the Israeli military carries out regular patrols and other activities aiming at thwarting infiltrations.
On July 17, IDF Chief of Military Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi said the Israeli army had recently foiled more than 10 militant attacks planned to be launched from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
The disclosure came during a briefing for the Knesset ( parliament) Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Kochavi did not detail the groups who plotted to carry out the attacks or their nature.
Israel's security establishment has voiced concerns about the growing lawlessness in Sinai, a vast desert region that flanks Israel's western border, since the ouster of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Last month, an Israeli was killed when militants set off an explosive device against a vehicle carrying contractors working on the construction of the Israel-Egypt border fence, sparking retaliatory Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip and Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israel.
In a separate incident last August, eight Israelis, most of whom civilian motorists, were killed in a coordinated assault launched by several squads of militants from Sinai.
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