Armed terrorists infiltrate into Israel from Gaza Strip, only to be captured by Israeli security forces.

Arab terrorists operating out of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip infiltrated into Israel early Tuesday morning, apparently as part of a planned attack.

The two terrorists were armed with a knife and grenade, Israeli security officials said, and were apprehended close to Israel’s security fence along the Gaza border shortly after they entered Israeli territory.

The IDF transferred the terrorists for interrogation.

Tuesday’s infiltration is the latest attempt by terrorist elements in the Gaza Strip to escalate tensions with Israel.

Since March 30th, tens of thousands of rioters have clashed with Israeli security forces along the Israel-Gaza frontier, hurling firebombs, flaming tires, and stones and Israeli soldiers, and even using kites to drop explosives to attack Israeli positions across the security fence.

A number of attempted terror attacks on Israeli security forces were thwarted since the riots, dubbed the “March of Return” began. The riots are expected to last through May 15th, culminating in a mass demonstration marking “Nakba Day” (Catastrophe Day), coinciding with the day after Israeli Independence Day.

Forty Gazans have been killed since the riots began, including more than a dozen individuals identified as Hamas terrorists.</s>JERUSALEM (JTA) — Two Palestinian men crossed into Israel from Gaza armed with a grenade and a knife.

The men were arrested by Israeli soldiers on Tuesday morning shortly after they crossed the security fence at the border between Israel and the southern Gaza Strip, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

They were turned over for questioning to the Israeli Security Agency, or Shin Bet.

The infiltration comes a day after four Palestinian men entered Israel through the security fence near Kibbutz Kissufim in southern Israel.

Also on Monday, Gazan Palestinians sent four kites carrying firebombs over the border fence. The kites touched down in a wheat field in southern Israel, setting fire to the crop. Some 25 acres of wheat were burned in the attack.

The explosives-laden kites are an escalation of the weekly protests at the Gaza-Israel border, called the March of Return, which are scheduled to end on May 14, the 70th anniversary according to the Gregorian calendar of the birth of the modern State of Israel, which the Arab world calls the Nakba, or Catastrophe.

On Friday, the kite that was flown over the border carrying a firebomb was decorated with a green swastika. Several fires have been set by such explosive-carrying kites in recent days.

A masked man from central Gaza who said he was among those preparing the kites told the Al-Jazeera news channel that: “These are our lands, and we have the right to return to them. We say to them, we will not let them sow our lands and enjoy them.</s>Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, said in a letter to the U.N. Security Council late Friday that Israeli forces continue demonstrating the "cruelty of their occupation machine, responding to the calls of unarmed civilians for freedom and justice with brutal and lethal force." He said one of the latest victims was a 25-year-old disabled man.

Nickolay Mladenov, the U.N. special coordinator for the long-stalled peace process between the two countries, said on Twitter Friday that the 15-year-old's death is "outrageous."

Turnout for the marches has fluctuated, with the biggest showing on March 30, but Friday's crowd appeared to have been somewhat larger than the one the previous week.

The marches are part of what organizers, led by Hamas, have billed as an escalating showdown with Israel, to culminate in a mass march on May 15.

The top Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, said Friday that people should get ready for large crowds spilling across the border that day. "Our people will outnumber the occupation and force it from our land," he said, referring to Israel.

Hamas says the protests are aimed at breaking a crippling border blockade that was imposed by Israel and Egypt after the Islamic militant group overran Gaza in 2007, a year after winning Palestinian parliament elections.

The marches also press for a "right of return" of Palestinian refugees and their descendants to what is now Israel. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were forced from homes in the 1948 war over Israel's creation. Palestinians mark May 15, the anniversary of Israel's founding, as their "nakba," or catastrophe, to mourn their mass uprooting.

Several thousand protesters flocked to the border area Friday, most gathering at five tent camps several hundred meters away from the border. Smaller groups advanced toward the fence, throwing stones, burning tires and flying kites with burning rags.

The kites are part of a new tactic aimed at setting fields on the Israeli side on fire. Most kites showed the colors of the Palestinian flag. One white kite bore a Nazi swastika.

The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that "The IDF will not allow any harm to security infrastructure that protects Israeli civilians, and will act against the violent rioters and terrorists who threaten either."

Earlier on Friday, Israeli military aircraft had dropped leaflets urging Palestinians to stay away from the fence and warning that they endanger their lives by following Hamas directives.

Meanwhile, Palestinians were using kites to drop leaflets on the Israeli side claiming Jerusalem is Palestine's capital and urging Israelis not to respond to their leadership.

While Hamas and smaller Palestinian factions have taken a lead as organizers, the mass marches are also fueled by growing desperation among Gaza's 2 million residents.

The border blockade has trapped nearly all of them in the tiny coastal territory, gutted the economy and deepened poverty. Gaza residents typically get fewer than five hours of electricity per day, while unemployment has soared above 40 percent.</s>Israeli forces detained two Palestinians near the border of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, according to the Israeli military.

The two were spotted while trying to cross a security fence on Gaza border into Israel, military spokesman Avichay Adraei said in a statement.

He said a bomb and a knife were found in their possession and were taken into custody for investigation.

There was no comment from the Palestinian side on the allegation.

Tension has been high along border between Gaza and Israel amid Palestinian rallies demanding the return of refugees to their towns and villages in historical Palestine from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.

At least 41 Palestinians have been martyred and hundreds injured by Israeli gunfire since the rallies began on March 30, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The rallies are part of a six-week protest that will culminate on May 15. That day will mark the 70th anniversary of Israel's establishment -- an event Palestinians refer to as the "Nakba" or "Catastrophe".
The Israel Defense Forces detain two alleged terrorists attempting to cross the Gaza border into Israeli territory armed with a knife and a grenade.