IDF airstrike eliminates 4 terrorists who had opened fire on Israeli soldiers operating near Tulkarm
(Video: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Israeli forces killed four terrorists in the West Bank’s Tulkarm on Saturday afternoon, hours after an earlier airstrike eliminated five others who were allegedly en route to carry out an attack.
The midday strike targeted terrorists who had opened fire on Israeli Duvdevan unit soldiers operating in the area. The soldiers returned fire and then directed an Israeli Air Force aircraft to strike the gunmen.
IDF forces operating in Tulkarm
“In a joint operation by the IDF, Shin Bet and Border Police, a terrorist cell was neutralized during an encounter with Duvdevan unit forces in Tulkarm, in the Menashe Brigade area. Guided by Shin Bet intelligence, Duvdevan fighters and Unit 636, an Air Force aircraft eliminated the cell,” the army said in a statement.
Earlier in the morning, the IDF struck a vehicle carrying five terrorists in the Nur al-Shams refugee camp near Tulkarm. According to Palestinian sources, among those killed were Ali Khalil and Jamal Abu Haneya, who were responsible for the shooting attack that killed Israeli national Amnon Mukhtar in the West Bank city of Qalqilya in June.
IDF strikes vehicle carrying 5 terrorists en route to carry out an attack in Nur al-Shams refugee camp near Tulkarm
(Video: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Mukhtar, familiar to Palestinian merchants in the Palestinian Authority-controlled city, had gone to Qalqilya for shopping, and a bag of vegetables was found in his vehicle. Following the incident, numerous IDF troops entered the city to investigate the circumstances, later confirming it was a nationalist-motivated attack.
Other terrorists killed in the morning strike included Haitham Biladi, a senior Hamas military figure in Tulkarm, and Ahmad al-Sabaa, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader in Nur al-Shams.
The IDF and Shin Bet later said that the cell “was planning a major attack in the near future.” Security sources noted that a key Hamas operative from Tulkarm was among the dead.
The terrorists’ vehicle was completely burned, and an IDF unit arrived at the scene afterward, likely to confirm the results of the strike.
Dr. Amin Khader, director of the government hospital in Tulkarm, told official Palestinian television, “The strike was carried out by a UAV. The remains were completely charred.”
Shortly after the attack, images circulated on Palestinian social media of a letter allegedly left in the vehicle containing the terrorists’ last will.
Last month, the IDF targeted another terrorist cell in Tulkarm, killing the head of Hamas’ military wing in the city, Ashraf Nafa, alongside the local commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, Muhammad Abu Abdu. Saturday's operation, like the previous one, occurred during an IDF mission in the camp, during which routes were uncovered by engineering equipment for fear of concealed explosives.