The Israeli occupation forces have killed three Palestinians claiming they threw an explosive device at the troops and tried to cross the Gaza border fence. In its statement Wednesday, the Israeli army said “troops were called to the scene, closed off the area and began searching for the suspects, who threw an explosive device or grenade at the soldiers.” The soldiers combed the area to ensure there were no other men, said the statement, adding that no Israeli casualties were reported and the incident did not pose any danger to the Israeli towns on Gaza’s border. The three slain Palestinians were civilians and not affiliated with any of the armed factions in the Gaza Strip, according to a Gaza police source. They were identified as Mohammad Hani Abu Mandil, Salem al-Naami and Mahmoud Said, aged 17 and 18, residents of al-Maghazi camp in central Gaza. They are the first casualties of cross-border fighting since the two-day flare-up between Israel and the Islamic Jihad movement in November, which killed 34 Palestinians and wounded dozens of Israelis. On Wednesday, Hamas questioned the Israeli army statement, describing the killing of the three Palestinians as a “heinous crime” and part of the Israeli terrorism practiced against the Palestinian people. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said in a press statement that the three were killed in cold blood, and that the occupation made false accounts to evade responsibility. Palestinians on social media attacked the parties that send young men to the border. Ambulance crews and citizens searched for the three boys at the border fence east of al-Maghazi camp before Channel 7 quoted an Israeli security source as saying that the bodies of the Palestinians will remain with Israel. The families of the three boys demanded that their fate be revealed. They told a number of journalists that they did not have any information confirming the death of their relatives, asking human rights organizations to take action to reveal their fate.