Israeli security forces killed three Palestinian terrorists who opened fire at them from a vehicle near the northern West Bank city of Jenin overnight Thursday.
The Israeli troops were conducting arrests in the Palestinian village of Jaba’ when the occupants of the vehicle opened fire at them. They returned fire and eliminated the threat in the ensuing firefight.
Footage from the Jaba' shootout
The goal of the raid in Jaba’ was to apprehend suspects who were believed to be planning to carry out a shooting attack soon. After the shootout, the military learned that two of the occupants of the vehicle were the targets of the arrest.
The suspects were identified as Ahmed Pashasha, 22, and Sufjan Fakhouri, 30, as well as Naif Malaishe, 25, who was released from detention over military activities just last month.
Fakhouri was one of the most prominent armed militants in Jaba’ and was recently attempting to establish a 'Jaba’ Brigade' similar to the Jenin Brigade, which receives funding from the Islamist terrorist group Islamic Jihad.
A spokesman for Islamic Jihad, Tareq Selmi, said in response to the killing of the three that "the aggression of the enemy obliges us to protect our people.”
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Vehicle of Palestinian suspects killed in shootout with Israeli forces Thursday morning
(Photo: Reuters)
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry stated that "the international community is responsible for its failure to protect the Palestinian people and curb Israeli escalation."
According to Israel Police, "last night, IDF Special Forces, together with a Border Police unit and the Shin Bet, operated in the village of Jaba’… to arrest wanted persons who were planning shooting attacks against IDF forces in their village and in the surrounding area. During the operation, shots were fired at the Special Forces' vehicle by the wanted persons. The Special Forces returned fire, killing all three armed militants who were in the car, including two of the wanted persons and an additional activist who was released from custody last month. Several weapons and explosives were found in the car."
On Tuesday, an Israeli force eliminated Abd Al-Fattah Kharousha — a Hamas operative who shot and killed Israeli brothers Hallel and Yagel Yaniv in the Palestinian town of Huwara last week.
Israeli intelligence zeroed in on Kharousha's identity, as well as his general escape route, within hours of the deadly shooting attack on the Yaniv brothers. His sons, who were apprehended by Israeli security forces on Tuesday, facilitated his escape from Huwara to Jenin where he was ultimately killed.
The operation for Kharousha's capture received the go-ahead on Monday after intelligence suggested that it would have a high probability of succeeding.
During the raid, troops deployed the so-called "pressure cooker" tactic, which included firing a missile at the building where Kharousha and other suspects were holed up in an attempt to flush them out. Six Palestinians were killed in total in the operation, including Kharousha himself.
Meanwhile, Kharousha's sons were hiding in the Askar refugee camp on the outskirts of Nablus, from where they were planning to carry out more attacks. As the events in Jenin were unfolding, Shin Bet and IDF forces closed in on their location and arrested them both.