Palestinian terrorists participate in an anti-Israel rally in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, on Feb. 17, 2020. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90.

JNS.org – The Israel Defense Forces announced on Wednesday that it had attacked a Palestinian Islamic Jihad sniper unit that fired on Israeli troops near the Gaza border earlier in the day.

“A short while ago, IDF forces identified a sniper unit of Islamic Jihad who fired from the Khan Yunis area at Israeli soldiers,” the IDF spokesperson said in a statement, i24News reported.

“In response, the IDF attacked the sniper squad to remove the threat,” said the spokesman.

Palestinian media reported that one person in Gaza was critically wounded in the IDF attack; no Israeli soldiers were injured, according to the i24News report.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad is backed by Iran and often launches rockets at Israel, and seeks to carry out other kinds of attacks.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a speech earlier this month that Tehran would support Palestinian terror groups as much as possible.

“I believe that the Palestinian armed organizations are going to resist; they will continue the resistance. The solution is resistance,” Khamenei said, according to his official website.