A Palestinian gunman was killed and another man was critically hurt during clashes with Israeli troops amid a raid in a refugee camp near the West Bank city of Tulkarem on Tuesday morning, Palestinian health officials said.
 |
| Israeli army |
The Palestinian Authority health ministry said 21-year-old Ayed Abu Harb was fatally shot in the head by Israeli troops in the Nur Shams refugee camp. A local wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group later claimed Abu Harb as a member.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa, citing the local Thabet Thabet Governmental Hospital, said another man was critically hurt during clashes in Nur Shams.
The Israel Defense Forces said troops entered the refugee camp to destroy a large cache of explosive devices in a building being used as a headquarters for wanted Palestinian gunmen, following intelligence information given to them by the Shin Bet security agency.
The cache was demolished by combat engineering troops.
Amid the raid, Palestinian gunmen opened fire at IDF troops and hurled explosives. The military said the forces returned fire at the gunmen, hitting several of them.
The local Islamic Jihad wing said its gunmen had opened fire at the Israeli forces and detonated explosive devices in the refugee camp.
Footage published by Palestinian media outlets showed an IED exploding as an Israeli military bulldozer made its way through the streets of Nur Shams.
The Israel Defense Forces has used heavily armored D9 bulldozers in West Bank operations to clear streets of hidden explosives, to enable troops to safely enter and carry out arrests.
The IDF said no soldiers were hurt following the blast, and the bulldozer continued to rip up the tarmac to expose hidden bombs planted there by gunmen.
No suspects were arrested in the refugee camp near Tulkarem overnight. The military last operated in Nur Shams in late July.
Last week, rare clashes occurred between Palestinian gunmen and members of the PA security forces in Tulkarem, during which one person was killed.
The IDF said Tuesday morning that troops detained 19 wanted Palestinians during overnight raids elsewhere in the West Bank, with clashes in some areas.
Violence has surged across the West Bank over the past year and a half, with a rise in Palestinian shooting attacks against Israeli civilians and troops, near-nightly arrest raids by the military, and an uptick in revenge attacks by extremist Jewish settlers against Palestinians.
Palestinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank since the beginning of the year have left 27 civilians and three soldiers dead, and several others seriously wounded.
According to a tally by The Times of Israel, 179 West Bank Palestinians have been killed during the same period — the vast majority of them during clashes with security forces or while carrying out attacks, but some were uninvolved civilians and others were killed under unclear circumstances, including by armed Israeli settlers.
Post a Comment
Leave a comment here: