JERUSALEM, Israel -- A Sinai-based Salafist group calling itself Ansar Beit al-Maqdes (Partisans of Jerusalem) claimed responsibility for Friday's terror attack that claimed the life of 20-year-old Israeli soldier Netanel Yahalomi.

The group called the attack a "disciplinary invasion against those who dared against the beloved prophet [Mohammed]," a U.S.-based monitoring agency cited a post on Islamist websites, Agence France Presse reported on Sunday.

"As the defense of the honor of the Messenger of Allah is one of our duties and responsibilities, your brothers ... carried their weapons and became determined to discipline the Jews for their heinous acts," the statement read.

The three Islamists, strapped with suicide belts and armed with RPGs, Kalashnikov and PK assault rifles and hand grenades, attacked the soldiers as they were giving water to African migrants.

The same group claimed responsibility for rocket attacks on Israel's southernmost port of Eilat in August.