A Palestinian militant was killed Saturday in clashes with Israeli security forces in the West Bank refugee camp of Jenin, where the troops were conducting a raid of the home belonging to the terrorist from the deadly shooting attack in Tel Aviv.
Three people were killed after Ra’ad Hazem, a 28-year-old Palestinian from the Jenin refugee camp, opened fire at a crowd of people sitting in a bar located on the city's busy Dizengoff Street. The terrorist was shot dead after an eight-hour manhunt.
The Palestinian health ministry said Ahmed a-Saadi - an Islamic Jihad operative - was killed during the clashes with Israeli forces. It added that five others were wounded in by Israeli gunfire.
The Israeli army said the military operation was ongoing in the Jenin camp, a stronghold of Palestinian armed factions in the north of the West Bank. The military is said to have surrounded the home of the Tel Aviv terrorist in order to detain Hazem's father - a commander in the Palestinian Authority's security forces who praised his son's actions.
In a statement, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said: "Armed assailants are firing at IDF and Border Police troops conducting counterterrorism activity in the Jenin refugee camp and the city of Jenin, endangering their lives. In response, the troops are firing towards the armed assailants."
"An M-16 assault rifle used by an assailant to attack the troops was confiscated."
A total of 14 people have been killed in attacks in Israel since the start of the latest terror wave on March 22, including some carried out by assailants linked to or inspired by the Islamic State group.
Thursday's deadly attack came amid heightened tensions during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Last year during Ramadan, clashes that flared between Israeli forces and Palestinians visiting Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem led to 11 days of devastating conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Jenin has been a flashpoint through the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Earlier this month Israeli security forces killed three Islamic Jihad militants when they came under fire during an operation to arrest them in Jenin.
The raid, in which four Israeli soldiers were wounded, followed another deadly attack on March 29 in Bnei Brak, an Orthodox Jewish city near Tel Aviv.
In that attack, a Palestinian with an assault rifle killed two Israeli civilians, two Ukrainian nationals and an Arab-Israeli policeman.