At least three Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli forces in the northern West Bank during an attempted arrest raid, Times of Israel reported citing police.
Israeli Border Police spokesman said that their “undercover officers” entered the Palestinian village of Jaba’, south of Jenin, to arrest two “wanted” men for a series of shooting attacks against Israeli forces in the area and the nearby Israeli outpost of Homesh.
Amid the raid, the wanted Palestinians and another gunman opened fire from a passing vehicle at the troops, who returned fire, killing them, the spokesman said.
A local wing of the Islamic Jihad in Jaba’ confirmed that their three members had been killed in what it called a “cowardly assassination operation.” It said the slain operatives and other Islamic Jihad gunmen had opened fire on Israeli forces.
The terror group also claimed to have downed an Israeli surveillance drone over the town, according to Times of Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed a Skylark drone had crashed amid the operation but said the circumstances were still under investigation.
Several firearms and explosives were found in the suspects’ car, police said.
No officers were hurt during the clash.
In the last week of February, a clash erupted between Israeli and Palestinians in the West Bank setting dozens of cars and homes on fire.
The incident took place when Israeli, Palestinian and other Arab officials were participating in a summit in Jordan, along with senior US representatives, to discuss ways to de-escalate rising tensions, reported The New York Times (NYT).
Jewish settlers went on a rampage in the area to avenge the killings, stoning and burning dozens of Palestinian homes, stores and cars, reported NYT.
Palestinian officials said one man was killed and four others were wounded.
Dozens of Israelis arrived in Huwara to riot. Mosques in Huwara published messages calling on Palestinians to confront settlers in the area, reported The Jerusalem Post. (ANI)
