Israeli security forces thwarted terror cell as three Palestinian terrorists killed in armed clashes
Israel’s military said on Friday that it had thwarted a terrorist cell following raids in two areas in the northern West Bank town of Jenin, during which three Palestinians were killed in violent gunfire clashes.
IDF soldiers from the Golani Brigade operated in two different locations in the Jenin refugee camp and confiscated illegal weapons and military equipment, the military said.
“At the first location, Palestinian assailants fired heavily toward the soldiers and hurled explosive devices at them,” the IDF said in a statement. “The soldiers responded with live fire.”
As IDF troops entered the second location, soldiers spotted a suspicious vehicle parked at the side of the road. Armed men sitting inside the vehicle began shooting at the soldiers, who “responded with live fire to neutralize the assailants,” the IDF said.
Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson described the Palestinian men, who were killed as “terrorist saboteurs.”
Three Palestinians – Baraa’ Lahluh, Laith Abu Srour, Yousef Salah – who were together in the same car were killed in the exchange of fire. At least eight others were injured during the military raids, according to Palestinian media reports. Both the Hamas terror group, which controls the Gaza Strip, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movements acknowledged that the terrorists were affiliated with their organizations and warned that the killings will not go unpunished.
Following the exchange of fire, IDF forces searched the car and confiscated two M-16 rifles, a “Carlo” submachine gun, loaded magazines and a military vest.
Israeli security forces have stepped up counter-terror operations in the West Bank, after a string of terrorist attacks by Palestinian and Israeli Arab perpetrators since March that killed 19 people.
Later on Friday, an IDF observation balloon fell inside the northern Gaza Strip, Israel’s military said.
“There is no suspicion of any significant leak of information,” the IDF stated.
Source: Algemeiner
