Gaza’s various terrorist factions are meeting in Gaza on Thursday morning, at the bequest of senior Hamas officials, to discuss “Israeli violations of the cease-fire” since the end of this past summer’s war, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said.

The meeting follows Wednesday’s clash when a Gazan sniper seriously wounded an IDF soldier and the IDF responded with artillery and machine-gun fire. Hamas claimed one of its commanders at a lookout post was killed.

The injured IDF soldier’s condition, which was serious, has improved.

Hamas denied that the sniper was “one of theirs” and that the elimination of the Hamas commander is a “dangerous violation of the cease-fire and crosses a red line.”

Hamas has been the de facto regime ruling over Gaza since it ousted its rival Fatah (PA) terrorist faction in a bloody battle in June 2007.

Taking responsibility for Gaza but not for terrorist attacks by rival or cooperating factions within Gaza, is a nifty way to accuse Israel of breaking the cease-fire when the IDF shoots back.

Yesterday’s clash took place at the security barrier, where the IDF was on patrol.

If the sniper was not from Hamas as Hamas claims, then why did the terrorist organization allow a rival terrorist in the area?

And if it was a Hamas commander at a lookout post who was killed in the clash, why did he allow the sniper, supposedly not from Hamas, to walk around in the area with a rifle?

Or, just maybe, Hamas is lying.

Army intelligence led the IDF to round up seven terrorists in the Shechem (Nablus) area Wednesday night, confiscating a large number of weapons and nearly $70,000 in cash.

The soldiers seized Kalashnikov rifles, an Uzi sub-machine gun, six cartridges for M-16 semi-automatic rifles, several knives, two pistols, a pipe for a bomb and a large sum of money.

The terrorists have been turned over to security personnel for questioning.

The Palestinian Authority officially is committed to maintaining security in the Shechem area and contends it will protect Israel from terror in the event of the creation of a Palestinian state within Israel’s borders.

The IDF is testing out a new initiative to improve battlefield performance and integration, according to the IDF blog.

Commanders in infantry units, starting with paratroopers — noted for their distinct red boots, have been undergoing tank training, teaching them how to both operate and command a tank.

The operational goal is for infantry commanders to better understand the workings, capabilities and tactical usage of tanks, so they can better deploy and utilize their services in the field.

During Operation Protective Edge, infantry troops and armored units worked closely together in Gaza, and the IDF hopes that a better understanding of the other unit’s tools, weapons, capabilities and tactics will increase battlefield performance even further.

The IDF has been running similar programs for IDF infantry officers with the Air Force and Navy — resulting in more accurate and more effective use of the Air Force and Navy’s tactical capabilities on the battlefield.

If the infantry-tank pilot program is successful with the paratroopers, it will be extended to all the infantry units.

Gaza’s ruling Hamas terrorists received a blizzard of grim warnings Wednesday after a sniper attack launched a major battle with IDF soldiers guarding those working on the security fence near Kibbutz Nirim and Nir Oz.

Despite a blustery response, the terror group was also not entirely stupid: its commanders have once again begun to head underground into hiding, anticipating Israeli retaliation for their actions and forcing Gaza’s civilian human shields to live with the consequences.

Speaking at the Calcalist Conference, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said Israeli forces “responded appropriately and we will act in an appropriate and powerful manner as any incident demands.”

Gantz added there is a possibility “events will deteriorate and develop into a significant incident.”

Referencing links between Iranian-backed Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Al Qaeda-linked Salafi Army of Islam in Gaza and the Jabhat al Nusra terror group in Syria, and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah terrorist organization, Gantz also noted a “strong possibility of a connection between fronts – that an incident in the north will influence an incident in the south.”

“We will respond with force every time there is an attempt to disturb the quiet that was attained in the south after Operation Protective Edge,” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said in a statement following the battle.

His statement was backed up by a similar warning from Strategic Affairs and Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz. “Hamas needs to understand that if it continues to undermine the security situation on the Gaza border, it risks a harsh Israeli response, which could turn into a comprehensive military campaign to demolish its government and military infrastructure,” Steinitz said.

The Hamas Izz a-Din al-Qassam military wing later issued its own statement from Gaza, accusing Israel of a “dangerous violation and a crossing of all red lines, as well as playing with fire… The enemy alone bears the responsibility of the repercussions of its uncalculated actions.

“It seems that this murderous enemy has not learned the hard lessons it was dealt by the resistance in the past. The enemy thinks that our people and the resistance are tired or exhausted after the last war,” the terror group added.

An allied terrorist organization, the Popular Resistance Movement, warned Israel would pay a ‘heavy price’ for killing one of its top commanders.

The clash began with a Hamas sniper’s bullet fired into the chest of an Israeli soldier on patrol. It led to an intense battle that included shelling from IDF tanks and Israeli air strikes as well.

Taysir al-Samiri 33, commander of the Hamas al-Qassam Brigades surveillance unit was killed in the battle, the terror group confirmed. Two other Gazans were also wounded, according to local medics.

But, “As a result of the attack, an IDF combat soldier from the Bedouin Reconnaissance Battalion suffered a severe chest injury,” the IDF said in a statement. The soldier was airlifted to Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva and his family was notified. He is listed in critical condition.

United Nations deputy Mideast envoy James Rawley has meanwhile expressed “concern” over the deteriorating situation on the Gaza border.

Carefully walking a tightrope of “neutrality” Rawley’s statement urged all parties to maintain and reinforce the August 26 “cease-fire” that ended Operation Protective Edge – but has already been broken by Hamas numerous times since then.

Rawley said in his statement that he is “deeply concerned by reports of exchange of fire between Palestinian militants and the IDF in the southern Gaza Strip today, which resulted in casualties on both sides.

“This follows a series of armed incidents since the end of November,” he noted – without pointing out that the “armed incidents” were actually unprovoked attacks launched solely by Gaza terrorists at Israelis.

A Hamas terrorist sniper seriously wounded a Bedouin combat soldier on patrol at the Gaza security fence Wednesday morning.

The family of the soldier has been notified but his name has not been released. He was serious wounded and was evacuated to Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva.

In response, IDF air and ground forces targeted Hamas positions in the immediate vicinity of the attack with machine gun and artillery fire.

Hamas confirmed that the commander of its lookout post was killed.

The army has ordered Israeli farmers to stop working and to evacuate the area until further notice.

The battle was the most serious since the end of the Operation Protective Edge counter-terrorist war against the Hamas terrorist infrastructure last summer.

Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, IDF Spokesman said, “This attack, the second of this week, is a lethal violation of the relative quiet along the Gaza border and is a blatant breach of Israel’s sovereignty. The IDF will continue to use all necessary means in order to maintain the safety of the citizens of southern Israel and will not hesitate to respond to any attempt to harm IDF soldiers.”

Hamas has tested several rockets the past several weeks. O landed in Israel last week, prompting an immediate strike on a Hamas weapons manufacturing building built with cement that Israel allowed to be shipped into Gaza on condition that it would be used for civilian purposes.

Israeli soldiers stopped another attempted murder by a knife-wielding Palestinian Authority terrorist Monday morning at the Nitzanei Oz checkpoint near Tulkarm, east of Netanya.

The soldier was not wounded.

The IDF said soldiers overpowered the attacker and brought him to security personnel for questioning.

Two other Arabs were questioned on Sunday after being discovered to be carrying knives, and attempted stabbings of soldiers and Border Police officers has become almost a daily routine.

Many of the terrorists are not linked with terror cells and simply are considered “lone wolves.”

It is more than decade too late to deal with the phenomenon because 20 years of Palestinian Authority incitement and brainwashing has produced results.

The Abbas regime in Ramallah for years has been systematically inciting children and youth to hate and murder Jews, using textbooks, media and official praise of “martyrs” to excite the Arab population. Those children and youth now are teenagers and young adults who believe with all their hearts and all their souls that all of Israel belongs to Arab “Palestine” and that killing Jews is the Islamic version of a mitzvah.

The Palestinian Authority has become a serial murderer. It killed the ”peace process,” which it still uses as a camouflage for its plan to do away with Israel as  a Jewish country.

It has encouraged an entire generation to kill Israelis, especially soldiers. It will continue and will even get worse if the Palestinian Authority ever becomes a country because the concept of ”two-states” is not a solution.

It is the problem.

Celiac disease is no longer an impediment to IDF service.

The IDF will soon be providing gluten-free battle rations, opening up the doors to combat service to Israelis with that suffer from Celiac disease.

Until last September, people with Celiac disease were fully exempted from army service, but allowed to volunteer in non-combat positions.

This past June, Defense Minister Yaalon changed the rules, allowing Celiac disease sufferers to even receive have a 97 profile ranking – the highest possible, which opened the door for them to join combat units.

Between 250-300 people arrive at the draft centers annually suffering from the disease.