At least four Palestinians were killed in an Israeli military attack in the northern West Bank city of Jenin on Wednesday morning, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.
A Border Police spokesman said in a statement that officers along with IDF soldiers tried to arrest Abd al-Rahman Hazem, the brother of a terrorist who carried out a deadly shooting attack in Tel Aviv earlier this year, and Muhammed Alownah.
The pair have been responsible for a series of shootings in recent months, including one earlier this month targeting a Defense Ministry engineering vehicle working along the security barrier in the northern West Bank, the police spokesman said.
Israeli officials said the pair are planning “major attacks in the near future.”
Israeli troops had surrounded the family home of Ra’ad Hazem, the terrorist who opened fire on patrons of the Ilka bar on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv on April 7, killing three people.
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Footage released by Palestinian media showed smoke billowing from the building in Jenin.
تغطية صحفية: “شهداء #جنين” pic.twitter.com/s2o5jjzjGf
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) September 28, 2022
Palestinian media reported that troops fired small rockets at the building, but the IDF and police said the wanted gunmen detonated a large bomb when troops tried to enter the house.
The IDF later released drone footage showing the moment the two gunmen detonated the explosive devices as troops surrounded the house.
“Hazem and Alownah were killed in the exchange of fire,” police said, adding that troops confiscated an assault rifle from one of the gunmen.
Police also released headcam footage of officers approaching the home and killing one of the gunmen who appeared to have jumped from the building.
The Palestinian Authority’s Health Ministry said two other people were killed and 44 others injured in the clashes, including several in serious condition.
عاجل| تغطية صحفية: “انفجار في أحد المنازل خلال محاصرة قوات الاحتلال نه في جني” pic.twitter.com/zG7iWNZzo2
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) September 28, 2022
A local wing of the Palestinian terrorist group Islamic Jihad said its members opened fire on troops near the Hazem family home.
The third Palestinian killed was identified as Ahmed Alawneh, 24, a member of the Palestinian Authority security forces. According to Palestinian media footage, he was killed while shooting at Israeli troops in the area.
The fourth death was identified as Muhammad Abu Na’asa.
صورة الشـهـيد محمد ابو ناعسة الذي أستشهد قبل قليل برصاص قوات الاحت #جنين pic.twitter.com/bXXC937z8t
— Newpress | نيو برس (@NewpressPs) September 28, 2022
There were no Israeli injuries in the operation.
Hazem’s father Fathi and two of his brothers have been wanted for questioning since the attack.
Fathi Hazem publicly praised his son’s actions after the deadly attack on the busy bar.
Police and rescue workers at the scene of a deadly terrorist attack on Dizengoff Street in central Tel Aviv, April 7, 2022 (Avshalom Sassoni/FLASH90)
Hazem killed Tomer Morad and Eytam Magini, two friends aged 27, and Barak Lufan, a 35-year-old father of three, in the shooting and injured about a dozen others.
He went on the run after the killings and was found hiding near a mosque in Jaffa after an hours-long manhunt with hundreds of security officers.
While initially raising his hands in surrender, Hazem then drew a gun and opened fire on the officers, who fired back, killing him, security forces said at the time.
Earlier this month, the IDF demolished Hazem’s home in the Jenin refugee camp.
Fathi Hazem, the father of Raad Hazem, 28, a Palestinian terrorist who killed three Israelis and injured several others in Tel Aviv last night, hugs a friend at his home in the West Bank city of Jenin April 8, 2022. (JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP)
Wednesday’s IDF raid came amid rising violence in the West Bank, particularly in the north.
On Tuesday evening, Israeli troops came under fire during “routine activities” near the Palestinian town of Asira al-Shamaliya.
Palestinian gunmen have attacked military posts, troops operating along the West Bank security barrier, Israeli settlements and civilians on the streets in recent months.
#عاجل تغطية صحفية: “مشهد للمنزل الذي تعرض لاستهداف من الاحتلال في #جنين“. pic.twitter.com/D7yk2m6ev1
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) September 28, 2022
Israeli troops have also come under repeated fire in night raids on Palestinian towns in the West Bank in recent months.
The military launched the arrest operations after a series of deadly attacks that killed 19 people between mid-March and early May, including the Tel Aviv shooting.
Many of the IDF’s arrests in recent months have been concentrated in Nablus and Jenin in the northern West Bank, home to a number of the terrorists who carried out the attacks earlier this year.
Israeli security officials have warned in recent months that the Palestinian Authority is losing control of the northern West Bank.
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