TEL AVIV, May 7. /TASS/. The Israeli military has taken control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing on the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) press service said.

"Following intelligence that indicated that the Rafah crossing in eastern Rafah was being used for terrorist purposes, IDF troops obtained operational control of the Gazan side of the crossing," the statement said.

As of now, "IDF ground troops are continuing to operate against Hamas terrorist operatives and infrastructure in the area of the Rafah crossing in eastern Rafah," the military added.

The press service also said that on May 5, "mortars were fired from the area of the Rafah crossing toward the area of the Kerem Shalom crossing [on Gaza’s border with Israel], as a result of which four IDF soldiers were killed and a number of other soldiers injured." After this, the Kerem Shalom crossing was closed, the Times of Israel said.