A Palestinian assailant was shot dead by Israeli forces after he threw a Molotov cocktail at them during a violent riot near the southern West Bank city of Hebron, putting them at immediate risk, the IDF said on Friday. There were no casualties on the Israeli side.
The terrorist was identified as Ahmad al-Atrash, 29, who was imprisoned in Israel three times between 2010 and 2020 for a slew of security offenses.
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Israeli forces clash with Palestinians during a violent riot near the southern West Bank city of Hebron, April 1, 2022
(Photo: Reuters)
He was previously convicted of throwing Molotov cocktails, manufacturing weapons and selling them.
A crowd of Palestinians that carried his body from the scene shouted "Allah Akbar," and "in spirit and blood we will redeem Palestine."
Al-Atrash is the fourth Palestinian terrorist eliminated by Israeli throughout the West Bank in over 24 hours. Two Palestinian gunmen were killed in a fire exchange with Israeli forces during a counterterrorism operation in the northern West Bank city of Jenin Thursday morning and another was shot dead by an armed civilian in Gush Etzion after stabbing an Israeli multiple times with a screwdriver on a bus, severely wounding him.
A crowd of Palestinians carries the body of terrorist Ahmad al-Atrash after he had been eliminated by Israeli forces in Hebron, April 1, 2022
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Earlier Friday, Defense Minister Benny Gantz toured the West Bank as forces were placed on high alert after a series of Islamist terrorist attacks by both Palestinians and Arab Israeli nationals that claimed the lives of 11 Israelis in one week.
"We will continue to make arrests and initiate defensive and offensive actions, and we will lay our hands on those who seek to harm the citizens of Israel. Everywhere and at any time," he said at the end of a situational assessment with senior military officials.
Gantz urged the Palestinians to maintain the calm ahead of the month of Ramadan — a time of heightened religious fervor that is characterized by a spike in nationalistic-driven terrorist acts.
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Defense Minister Benny Gantz tours the West Bank amid heightened tensions with Palestinians, Israeli Arabs
(Photo: The Defense Ministry)
Meanwhile, the Friday prayers on the Temple Mount's al-Aqsa Mosque, which were attended by more than 20,000 Muslim worshippers, have concluded without any unusual incidents.
The mass prayer session at the Jerusalem flashpoint often devolves into anti-Jewish incitement and clashes with security forces during times of heightened tensions.