Two fighters from the Palestinian terror group were killed in fierce clashes with Israeli forces that erupted during a predawn arrest raid near the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank.
The Israel Defense Forces said special forces from the Haruv and Duvedan units entered the neighboring town of Wadi Burqin to arrest three Palestinians suspected of involvement in terrorist activities.
The military said troops came under heavy fire during the operation and responded with fire of their own, adding that “hits have been identified”.
The victims have been identified as Mohammed Ayman Saadi of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and Na’im Zubeidi of the Fatah-affiliated al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, although the various armed factions in Jenin are known to be working together against the IDF.
The IDF and the Shin Bet security agency said in a joint statement that the couple were senior terrorist agents. Both gunmen killed were in their 20s but had previously served time in Israeli prisons for security crimes.
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Saadi was a “prominent PIJ military operative” responsible for a series of shooting attacks on troops and arming other operatives under orders from the PIJ leadership, the statement said.
* الشهيد القائد الميداive ” محم dah pic.twitter.com/pOtmjL6I12
— أبوجميل العزازي #غزة#فلسطين????????? (@abu_jamil_) December 1, 2022
The statement said Zubeidi was also responsible for numerous shootings at Israeli forces in the West Bank. Palestinian media said Zubeidi is a relative of Zakaria Zubeidi, a notorious Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorist who led terrorist attacks during the Second Intifada and briefly escaped from Israeli prison last year.
كتيبة جنين: “ننعى أبرز قادة سرايا القدس الأبطال، الشهيد القائد الميداني محمد أيمن السعدي “أبو الأيمن” (26 عامآ) قائد كتيبة جنين، والشهيد البطل رجل الظل الشامخ والسند الحامي للمقاومة القائد الكبير نعيم جمال زبيدي (27 عامآ)، الذين ارتقوا إثر عملية اغتيال جبانة فجر اليوم”. pic.twitter.com/6mVDyzRoZ2
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) December 1, 2022
The troops also seized three M-16 assault rifles during the raid, the IDF said.
Palestinian media reported that up to 20 people were injured in varying degrees of severity, and the Jenin hospital declared a state of emergency, urging locals to come and donate blood.
The IDF said no soldiers were injured in the operation.
Weapons confiscated by Israeli troops after a raid in the West Bank town of Wadi Burqin near Jenin December 1, 2022. (Israel Defense Forces).
In a statement early Thursday, an Islamic Jihad spokesman vowed to demand a price against Israel for the “heinous crime.”
Hundreds of Jenin residents were filmed taking part in a funeral procession for one of the slain militants as he left the city’s hospital.
The Jenin refugee camp and surrounding area has been identified as a hotbed of terror by the IDF, which says it has been forced to operate widely in the city, located in the Palestinian Authority-controlled Area A of the West Bank, since the PA took control lost in the area. Ramallah claims that the Israeli incursions only further damage its legitimacy in the West Bank.
The couple killed early Thursday morning became the seventh and eighth Palestinians killed in the West Bank in less than three days.
شاهد| تغطية صحفية: “ح ح تحمocket جثم ا الشهـ ـيدين ا الس differently ونعيم ا ا وتجوب مخي #جنين “. pic.twitter.com/pHdZbFfuHu
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) December 1, 2022
One was killed in clashes with Israeli forces in the northern West Bank town of Yabed on Wednesday afternoon. Four Palestinians were killed in clashes with the IDF across the West Bank on Tuesday, and another Palestinian was killed after conducting an autoram attack the same day that seriously injured a soldier.
Tensions in the West Bank ran high last year as the IDF launched a major counter-terrorist offensive, mostly focused on the northern West Bank, to deal with a series of Palestinian attacks that killed 31 people in Israel and the West Bank came since the beginning of the year.
The operation has led to more than 2,500 arrests in near-night raids, but has also killed more than 150 Palestinians, many – but not all – in attacks or clashes with security forces.
The IDF said troops arrested six other wanted Palestinians and confiscated a pistol during night raids in the West Bank.
Last month, the UN envoy to the Middle East said 2022 will be the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since the UN began tracking deaths in 2005.
At the same time, there has been a sharp increase in settler attacks on Palestinians and security forces.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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