IDF soldiers frightened off a group of Gazans who apparently decided to sneak towards the Gaza security fence with Israel — an activity that is clearly dangerous and known to everyone to carry a possible death sentence.

Someone approaching the security fence from the Gaza side in the middle of the night obviously has — at the least — highly suspect reasons for doing so.

This incident took place across from the so-called “refugee camp” of El Bureij in central Gaza, home to nearly 40,000 people — nearly double the population of the northern Israeli Negev city of Arad. The place has a long history of conflict and hatred of Israel.

In the dark, Israeli soldiers made the best choice: they detonated a brief illumination bomb and aimed it at the fence, thus lighting up the entire area in the process.

Unsurprisingly, the illuminating bomb that illuminated the area inspired the suspects to retrace their steps and return to Gaza territory.

It’s not clear what their motives were, but it is very clear they weren’t coming to defect, celebrate a melave malka (Saturday night party to greet the new week) or offer assistance to IDF soldiers serving in the area.

Even the smallest candle can light the deepest darkness. So much more so, a illumination bomb.

IDF forces have surrounded and sealed off the Palestinian Authority village of Bani Naim, located about five minutes south of Kiryat Arba in the wake of a terror attack committed by two of its residents. Only “humanitarian” cases are allowed to leave.

The move comes as part of the decision by the IDF to beef up its presence in the Hebron area after an escalation in terror attacks within 48 hours, three out of five of which took place in the city.

One of the attacks involved a vicious stabbing of an IDF soldier Saturday morning in Hebron.

תיעוד הפיגוע שהתרחש הבוקר בחברון • @OrHeller >> https://t.co/YU8LHhS8Xt pic.twitter.com/Z4LCXdLL03— חדשות 10 (@news10) September 17, 2016

The IDF deployed the Shimshon Battalion and the Kefir Brigade in Hebron. Brigadier-General Lior Carmeli, Commander of the Judea and Samaria Division, toured the locations of the terror attacks that took place in the area.

Bani Naim is the same village that was home to the terrorist who murdered 13-year-old Hallel Ariel, stabbing her to death in her bed after climbing in her bedroom window the morning after her school year ended.

Two terrorists carried out a vehicle ramming attack at Elias Junction entrance to Kiryat Arba just prior to the start of the Sabbath a few minutes before sundown on Friday.

IDF troops guarding the area shot the terrorists. The male terrorist was killed, the female terrorist was wounded and taken to the hospital. Three Israeli teenagers suffered minor physical injuries and major trauma; they had to be treated for both as a result of the attack.

The Elias junction is a hitchhiking post in Judea next to a Paz gas station on Highway 60.

A IDF force killed an Arab terrorist who stabbed an IDF soldier, wounding him lightly in his face. The attack took place an hour before candle lighting time, at the Gilbert Junction below Tel Rumeida in Hebron.

This was the third terrorist attack this Friday, Sept. 16, after a long period of relative quiet.

An EMT unit gave the soldier first aid.

A combined raid of Police, the Border Guard and the IDF in A-Ram village, north of Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, seized 900 illegal 9mm bullets from a local resident, the Police Spokesperson reported. The suspect was taken for questioning.

The IAF on Thursday morning attacked three terror infrastructure targets belonging to Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip. The attack came in retaliation for high trajectory fire into the Eshkol Regional Council carried out earlier.

The IDF’s Spokesperson said that the IDF continues to view Hamas as being solely responsible for everything that takes place within the Gaza Strip. The IDF will continue to act harshly in order to maintain the quiet in Israel’s southern communities.

As The Jewish Press Online reported earlier, at least one mortar shell exploded in an open area of the Eshkol Regional Council, but local residents were unaware of the attack since the air raid system failed to activate. No one was injured.

A terrorist stabbing attack was averted on Wednesday when alert Israeli forces serving at “Rachel’s checkpoint” became suspicious of one of the Arab residents in the area who asked to pass through and into the area.

The man aroused the suspicions of the soldiers with his behavior, and was taken aside for a body search by police.

Security forces discovered a large knife hidden beneath the man’s shirt.

The suspect was placed under arrest and subsequently transferred to security personnel for interrogation.

The IDF is warning its soldiers – and not for the first time – not to rely on GPS apps when driving from one location to another.

Many places in Israel and the Palestinian Authority have the same, or similar names, military officials note.

Soldiers were also reminded to keep their weapons with them, especially after nightfall.

The warning comes after two female paratroop soldiers were headed to their base this week and took a wrong turn due to erroneous directions on a GPS app.

They ended up in the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Tulkarem, a few miles east of Netanya – and barely made it out alive.

Both women were injured in the stoning attack that followed, and had to be rescued by local police and defense ministry officials.